Seafood in Oostende

I promised to tell a bit more about the seafood in Oostende...
This is where some of it comes from.
After some turns and polishing it ends up at the market by the peer.
You can buy it in different forms. These mixed seafood plates are 3 and 4 euros, which to me is quite reasonable price.
You have mussels, small shrimps and small sardines in portions. Among other stuff I had the mussels and gotta say they were good.
Remember to eat them yourself. If you feed the seagulls, you will get a fine. Also for littering at the dunes you get a fine over 100 euros - and I support that approach!
This is what you can easily make from the fresh shrimps. Just add oil, garlic and chili (fresh or powder) according to your taste and some herbs. Also paprika powder goes well here. Fry them on a hot pan for some minutes and enjoy! Easy & fast!!!
From corner shop you can buy souvenirs. Ships starting from 4.60 Euros...
Or get your very own seagull!
All and all, having also eaten in Oostende restaurants I can say it is a place to go for some good seafood!

...then again one about the shoes;
We also found Nike shoes size #15. Owner was not in town so we could not have live comparison of the toes. Hopefully next time!

Oostend - Worth a visit / Käymisen arvoinen

Oostende is about 1.5 hours drive west from Brussels by the coast. At summer time the driving can be much longer on a sunny day when "all" Belgians try to take their piece of the beach.

To me a big part of it is the sea - and particularly seafood. Hence fishing boats are part of the scenery.

For some reason they also have influence from East Berlin in some of the buildings...
But have no fear, local police is equipped to guarantee your safety also on sea.
When we visited there a week ago, the spring already showed it's presence.
As you know, Belgium also played a part in 2nd World War and Oostende has recognized some of the heroes.
In busy days parking can be a problem, but you should try the Visserkaai -parking if there is still free spots. It's next to the hot spots, which on the other hand are all at walking distance.
I suggest to take a walk by the peer and make sure to check out the fish markets. The "tents" below sell nice portions you can eat right away or take away, but there is also one where you can buy all sorts of fishes.

Later I will tell you separately about the fantastic seafood you have available.
I can tell you, they do have also better looking stuff then these ones.
This is where they come from. If you look carefully, you can see these guys were lucky - they are surrounded by seagulls!
There are plenty of nice restaurants by the sea, lots to choose from. And if you feel you have too much money in your pocket, they also have a big casino...
Like in many places, some areas are under constructions. I don't envy the restaurant owner between these two building sites.
When you have a break and enjoy desserts, don't forget to be creative with your food decorations.
There are plenty of quality goodies to choose from, so make sure you have an open mind to taste new things!
For kids fun you should take the 10 mins drive to visit Earth Explorer, an activity center where you will learn things while having fun.
If you wish to stay over, in addition to hotels there are many Bed&Breakfast places.
Or if you are more into camping, you might want to try this site...?
I definitely recommend a walk along the beach, there are many paths by the dunes.
Depending on your preference, you can take short, longer or loooong walks.
No matter how short or long it is, you can also do it by running up&down the dunes in a soft sand. Great exercise!
There are many kilometers of sandy beaches that get extremely busy at summer time, but it is nice to visit there at any time of the year. Just dress according to weather.
Nice place with multiple options. Great restaurants, beaches, nature, casino, basketball team, companies to arrange fun activities for private or company team-building... I like it, but still I won't join the thousands who head there on a sunny summer day!

Lääkäriin Belgiassa?

Sorry folks, no English version this time. If you wanna try, copy the text to google.translate.com

Basic message is that private dentists and doctors are cheaper in BE then FI, but then again the system is different too...

Perheemme on yli 4 vuoden Belgiassa olon aikana joutunut käymään erinäisen kerran hammaslääkärissä, ja koska emme ole täällä erityisessä kunnallisessa hammashoidossa olemme hieman risteilleet lääkäriltä toiselle. Ja ne ovat olleet sen mukaisesti yksityisiä.

Jouduin tänään kaymään meidän perheporaajaksi tulleella Stefanesculla, joka nimestään huolimatta on mukava rouvahenkilö, ottaa pehmeästi lapset vastaan, selittää mukavasti mitä on tulossa, ja pitää huolta jopa +100 kiloisesta aikuisesta miehestä!

Mitä yksityinen hoito sitten maksaa?
Tämänpäiväinen käynti jossa paikattiin 5 minuutissa pieni hampaasta irronnut pala, hiottiin huolella edellisestä hoidosta teräväksi jäänyt reuna sekä tarkastettiin onko mitään muuta huollettavaa, maksoi 55 Euroa. Hyvä juttu on että meillä on vielä vakuutus josta saa rahaa takaisin...

Miksi sitten Suomessa vastaava homma maksaa enemmän?

Nuoresta lähtien olen tottunut että hammaslääkärillä on AINA mukana hammashoitaja. Näin oli jo 70-luvulla AnnanIkeneenPoraajaRouvaRautasella Jousenkaaren Koulun hammashoitolassa, ja niin se jatkui aina viimeiseen Suomessa tekemääni porakeikkaan asti.

Jos aikuinen poikamies menisi heidän hoitoonsa, varmaankin näkisi asian toiselta kantilta mutta täällä porahommia ihmeteltyäni herää kysymys: Miksi hammaslääkäri ei pystyisi hoitamaan hommaa yksin? Ainakin Belgialaiset hammaslääkärit pystyvät!

Sorry T.S., tää on hieman ristiriidassa sun ammattitaustaa vastaan mutta onneksi olet hieman muissa hommissa :o)

Itse olen ollut täällä 4 eri poraajan käsiteltävänä ja kaikki ovat osanneet hommansa. Ainoa joka ei ole Englantia hyvin osannut oli herra jolle menin koska oli akuutti tarve eivätkä vakiomammat olleet saatavilla. No joo, lisäksi on karsiutunut alkuvaiheessa (jolloin ei Ranska sujunut alkuunkaan) aika monta joiden kanssa ei päästy edes ajasta juttelemaan.

Summa summarum:
Belgiassa on ihan turvallista ja edullisempaa kuin Suomessa hoitaa legonsa kuntoon!
Valitettavasti myos sairaalapalvelut on tullut testattua ja niille voin antaa arvosanan Hyvä +. Ongelmana on Belgialainen (joskus) idioottimainen byrokratia ja epätoivoinen logistiikka.

Mutta plussana on esim kotiin tuleva lääkäri alle tunnin varoitusajalla tilauksesta, kustannus max 50 Euroa. Keskimäärin yksityislääkärin käynti vastaanotolla on ollut 35 Euroa. Asia josta en tiedä mitään: gyne on katutietojen mukaan alle 50 Euroa ja Papa alle 30 Euroa.

Täällä on liian monta systeemistä luvattomasti nauttivaa laitonta tulijaa tai muuten sluibailevaa henkilöä (joista yllättävän monet tulevat Pohjois- tai Keski-Afrikasta, Lähi-Idän tai Aasian maista tai Turkista, tämähän on maiden sulatusuuni...), jotka kuulemma systeemiin sisälle päästyään eivät lähde kirveelläkään pois. Ihan kuin Italiassa työpaikan saanut henkilö ei pois lähde.

Kokonaisuutena voi sanoa että jos olet Belgiassa sosiaaliturvan piirissä, sinulla on asiat hyvin. Jos sinulla on lisäksi vakuutus, asiat ovat hienosti!

To set set the scene, you should know that I take it as a privilege to have a right to vote. And I will do vote when ever there is a chance, since I think I have an opinion - and you might have noticed it by now on this site ;o)

I received some weeks ago a card from the commune that I understood to say I am entitled to vote in European Parliament election in June 2009 in Belgium. To do that, I would need to register in my commune called Etterbeek (one of about 13 in Brussels area, an issue it self...). Being a non-French speaking creature, I was of course happy to receive this note that was only in French. Luckily we have an assistant who should get a medal for her extra efforts - many thanks Nath for this and others (not to mention about info about voting in BE...)!!!

I have received similar cards earlier and I have deliberately destroyed all of them; They proposed me to vote, and if I would do it I would be obliged to vote in Belgium elections. Not allowed, but obliged. From now onwards in every election, hoping that if I move out from the country I´d be excused...

What if I register but don´t want to or can´t vote in that particular voting date?
Well, you I would get a fine. Sorry, not sure about the amount but enough to be painful I´ve been told.

The only acceptable reasons to miss voting could be if you are dead, so ill that you can´t move or you are giving birth that date, (still you need to get doctor´s certificate). If you are for example so old you are not able to move any more you are still expected to find a "deputy" for yourself. Yep, a person who´s supposed to put in the vote for you.

Hmmmm, how would you be able to secure that your deputy would vote according to your wish or demand?
No.

If you still decide to register to vote, it´s not the easiest thing at the market. The time window when you are able to vote depends on your commune in Belgium you live in. For example in a commune of colleague´s parents, they can vote only between (max times my colleague remembered) 0830 - 1100. And there is no pre-voting like I´d say modern countries do have.

What about then the country I´m coming from - Finland?
According to Wikipedia, Finland was the first country in Europe and 3rd in the world to give women a right to vote in election, and apparently in the frontier to let women to be selected as members of parliament at 1906.
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Suomalais-linkki Belgian äänestämisen kauneudesta;
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_vaalit

Tiesitkö muuten, että Euroopan maista Sveitsi antoi naisille äänioikeuden vasta vuonna 1971 ja Liechtenstein, viimeisenä Euroopassa, vuonna 1984. Joissain Sveitsin kantoneissa naisten äänioikeus oli evätty 1990-luvun alkuun asti. (Lähde: Wikipedia)

Would you want a lizard in your house?

Some time ago we visited a family who had a lizard in their house. Iguana apparently, and they had even paid money to get it into their house!

All of us have different likes and dislikes but this one is a clear NO for me; NO lizards, bugs or other non-hugable animals into our house please!

I think I understand the cool thing of having a lizard, but I would not be able to sleep tight thinking if I - or someone else in the family - remembered to close the door of the terrario.

Apparently these lizards are not too smart either, which means they are worth a dime as a company. Surely you can have a staring contest with them or try to stay frozen as long as the lizard, but what's the point. You might even give him a name like Frank, but I don't think you would go out for a walk with them...If you like how they look, get a paining. Or buy an amazon DVD but please don't bring them to your house. We have a good one at our house, a plastic one. And that's enough!