I grew up eating meat on an almost daily basis. My dad, as the guy who delivered meat to the stores, often got freebies from butchers he'd become friends with. Eating meat was completely normal and since my dad worked in the industry, I knew exactly what I was eating. Now that I'm more or less an adult, I don't eat as much meat anymore. My dad got a different job over a decade ago and prices have gone up. Besides, sausages make me gag. Going vegetarian or vegan isn't an option for me though: I quickly run low on iron and have trouble concentrating if I go without any meat for 8 days (yes, I once tried). Yet vegan food intrigued me. I wanted to know what it tastes like, what the texture's like, everything. So when my boyfriend suggested we'd go to the Vegan Junk Food Bar while in Amsterdam, I jumped at the chance and said yes!

The Vegan Junk Food Bar actually has three branches in my country's capital. We walked from the Banksy exhibition at Moco to the one at Staringplein 22 - which wasn't the brightest idea. I got extremely annoyed with all the tourists blocking the sidewalks and my boyfriend's picture can now be found under 'hangry' in shady online dictionaries. Luckily, we made it to the Vegan Junk Food Bar without wanting to kill each other. We did doubt about ordering lunch though: this branch is quite small and seemed to have no empty tables left. But if you think I turned around and had lunch somewhere else, you don't know me well enough: this carnivore wanted her vegan meat. And she got it.


We waited in line to order at the register. I had a hard time choosing between the Original VJFB burger and the Chick'n Nuggets, and ended up ordering both - I was unbelievably hungry, you know. I also got a Sprite, which came with a bio-degradable straw. All the cutlery was bio-degradable as well, so I was a happy camper. I was having a great day, and when our food arrived, I somehow even managed to take pictures before digging in. That was no easy feat: the food looked so delicious that it almost physically hurt me to not start eating right away.


Even though my burger was almost screaming my name, I started with the chick'n nuggets. For some reason I thought that if any part of the meal would disappoint, it'd be the nuggets. Spoiler alert: the nuggets did not disappoint. They were the best nuggets I've had in years. Chicken McNuggets have nothing on these things - but to be honest, I think that says more about the quality of nuggets from McDonald's. I don't even think I'll be able to eat those again after having had these vegan ones. They were just so delicious, both with and without the original VJFB sauce, the taste of which I can't describe (this right here is the reason why I'm not a food blogger). My boyfriend still refuses to believe the nuggets were vegan, despite the menu saying '100% plant-based'. That's how good they are.


Next up was the burger, which had plenty of veggies, vegan cheese, VJFB sauce and a vegan patty. Would it be too easy to say that the burger was just as delicious as it looked? And that my shitty smartphone pictures actually don't do it justice? Probably. Let me say this then: I saw blown away by the quality of the vegan meat. I've had a lot of burgers in my life, and many of them weren't even nearly as good as this one. You'd never be able to tell it was a completely plant-based burger if you didn't already know.


I think I don't have to explain that I was very happy when we left the Vegan Junk Food Bar. It feels good to know that your absolutely awesome meal barely put any strain on our planet compared to the non-vegan version. I could definitely see myself eating meals like this one more often - it's just too bad that I don't live all that close to Amsterdam. I guess this marks the start of the search for good vegan junk food in Rotterdam!

Miss Marvel has a special place in my heart. The very first thing I bought with my very first paycheck just so happened to be the very first big Miss Marvel comic book. The pretty hardcover one with tons of extra pages. You might have seen my review back in the day. I loved everything about it, from the art to the story to the little bits of Pakistani culture that made the whole thing so great. Of course I bought the second installment as soon as possible. Again, I loved everything about it. But then, my entire life was turned upside down. Shit hit the fan last year and because of that, I didn't have the energy or motivation to keep reading. I lost track of the plot and all its little nuances. Recently though, I got back into the Miss Marvel world. I was extremely excited about this. I'd missed it. But two books into my return, I found myself putting my comic book down and feeling like I'd read something... mediocre?


It's difficult to flat-out call Miss Marvel mediocre. I'm not even sure if I can truly label it as such. It's complicated, so let me first get you up to date, or at least up to the point in the story where I am right now. Kamala Khan had her inhuman powers 'unlocked' by the Terrigen Mist. She can change the shape, size and look of her body any way she wants and became the new Miss Marvel. Her first fight was against the Inventor, who used millennials as a power recourse, because that's all my generation is good for, according to him. I wrote about all that in this post from early 2017. I never reviewed the second book, because I felt people wouldn't like me rambling on and on and on about this series instead of giving them the chance to discover it for themselves. Anyway, in the second hardcover book Kamala gets used to her powers, receives some help and training from the inhumans and meets Carol Denvers, the original Miss Marvel. The book ends with the biggest cliffhanger I've ever seen in my life - and I've read a lot of Rick Riordan books, so I know what I'm talking about.

Up to this point I was completely in love with the series. But then I took that involuntary break and when I returned, things were different...

There was one thing that made it difficult for me to pick the story up again: my local comic book store didn't have any more hardcover installments of the series, so I had to switch to paperback volumes. There was also a gap in my timeline: I couldn't get my hands on the volume that picked up where the cliffhanger had left me. As of writing this, I still have no idea what happened there. But let's be honest: that's no reason to suddenly call Miss Marvel mediocre, is it?


After more than half a year, I ended my comic book dry spell with Civil War II, volume 6 of the paperback volumes. This was extremely confusing because of the gap in my timeline. One moment the world was ending, now we're reading about a science fair project with the most adorable shark ever. Soon enough I was sucked right back into the story. Even though we don't see major events in the Marvel universe happen from up close, Kamala is always faced with the consequences while having her own great storylines. In Civil War II, we see Kamala struggle with her own sense of justice, how her decisions affect the lives of those around her and in the end, we see her return to her roots in Pakistan. Nothing mediocre about any of that. But then came Damage Per Second, the 7th volume...


I honestly didn't know what to expect, because there was no story continuing from volume 6 to volume 7. I sure didn't expect the first issue of the collection in this volume to be a bit of a patronizing thing on the importance of voting. The first issue is usually a filler between story arcs though, so I didn't care all that much about this issue not doing anything for me. The actual story arc, however... was even more nothingness. A tale of being safe and kind on the internet. That's literally it. Okay, as usual in superhero stories, this one event in the digital world has a huge effect on the real world, but it all comes down to being kind to others. And that's just a bit bland for Miss Marvel. There's no connection to the bigger Marvel picture, no character development. It's... dare I say it? A bit mediocre.

Honestly, this 7th volume barely left an impression. There was nothing that stood out to me. There are bits and pieces about kindness and acceptance that I liked, but those weren't as impressive as entire story arcs about the question whether or not an entire generation can be considered useless. The excellent storytelling that kept me not just entertained, but fascinated throughout the first few comic books was almost non-existent. The ball was dropped.

Only the last issue of the volume managed to break the cycle of 'meh'. This one takes place in Wakanda, which I loved because I'd just been to Black Panther a couple of days earlier (yes, sometimes I'm that easy to please). It's also the only one that builds upon the foundation laid by previous issues, the only one that shows us a glimpse of what could be up ahead. It's sad that I can't be so positive about every issue in this volume. Without the Wakandan part, it'd be like reading an endless filler.


Leafing through Damage Per Second now, I get frustrated all over again. You see, apart from the plot problem, the quality is once again amazing. I'm a big fan of Takeshi Miyazawa's art, even though it can be a little too detailed in smaller frames sometimes. Most of the frames are pure perfection to me though. I guess it's because the style reminds me of my manga days. I also love the modern look of Andolfo's and Herring's work in the first and last issue of the volume, which are both gorgeous. Yet compared to the way the story switched between the art styles of Miyazawa and Alphona in a previous volume to show us flashbacks from the partition on the subcontinent. That was genius. A short dream sequence in Damage Per Second just felt bland after that. I guess that's the problem with the entire volume: it's a solid product, but lacks a certain something to rise above the crowds, a certain something that the other volumes did have.


Long story short: Miss Marvel had a good thing going. No, not just good. Great, it was great. The writers and artists were bringing their A-game to every single issue. The series brought us social commentary, diversity, and good old-fashioned superhero action. Until Damage Per Second didn't quite live up to the standard set by all the previous volumes. Still I don't want to keep calling Miss Marvel mediocre from now on: it was just the story that lost its edge. I honestly hope that this is just because volume 7 is the volume that gives us a breather between two major story arcs. And hey, as usual I'm a bit behind on the series, so maybe I'm whining too soon. Either way, Damage Per Second falls short, so let's all keep our fingers crossed and hope that volume 8 brings Kamala back to the level of awesome we're used to!

No, Banksy didn't leave one of his famous Laugh Now monkeys on the streets of my country's capital. Sadly. We don't have that kind of luck in the Netherlands. We have a different kind of luck here: the Modern Contemporary Museum in Amsterdam, Moco for short, brought a Banksy exhibition to Holland. And you know me, I can't let a Banksy exhibition slide.

The exhibition seems to be a permanent one for now, but each source has something different to say on that matter. I'd read somewhere it's only last till June (which is false, apparently) and I had a coupon for a free ticket that I could use till May, so on the last Saturday of April my boyfriend had the questionable honor of being dragged to the capital in the name of art and blog posts. It was his first Banksy exhibition, but my second: I'd been to The Art of Banksy in Antwerp in 2017 and to be honest, I expected Laugh Now to be more of the same sort of street art awesomeness. I'd loved the dark ambiance of the Antwerp exhibition that made it feel like you were actually on the streets. Moco, as it turned out, couldn't have been more different from that place though. The museum is located in Villa Alsberg, a town hours in the middle of Amsterdam's Museumplein. It looked very small from the outside and there was a long line in front of the building. I feared we'd be waiting for hours, but we soon passed the front gates, above which two heart-shaped balloons were floating like in one of Banksy's most famous works. 


Once inside, I immediately noticed how far away I was from the street art world. Moco is a serious museum of the kind that has signs with interpretations and materials listed. Works on white walls without any distractions. Middle-aged and old people looking to buy some more risky stuff for their personal collection. Let me tell you, people like that were nowhere to be found in Antwerp. Not that it bothered me. I was too busy checking out all the art.


The first piece I saw couldn't have been more perfectly placed: facing the entrance, right above the staircase to the first floor. It looked like it truly belonged there. It was also a piece I'd never seen before, which took away some of my concern regarding the exhibition. I'd been afraid there wouldn't be a whole lot of new stuff for me to see after visiting The Art of Banksy and reading Banksy's book Wall and Piece. Luckily, that wasn't the case at all. We walked up to the first floor, where the majority of the artworks was on display. Now I'm used to seeing prints and pictures of Banksy's work, but Moco has more to offer: you get to see the pieces on the actual walls, doors and in one case street sign they were originally made on. I could barely wrap my mind around the fact that I was facing surfaces the same way Banksy had done years before when he went out with his stencils and spray cans. It was a weird and kind of magical sensation.


We wandered from room to room and soon I found myself straying away from the more well-known pieces like Girl With Balloon. Okay, it was cool to see that one in real life, next to the phone case I bought just because it had that image on it. But I was more interested in the pieces I hadn't seen yet, the pieces that had carefully been removed from the sides of buildings and the pieces I'd only seen in pictures from Wall and Piece. Even if you've been to a Banksy exhibition before, you won't get bored for a second during your visit to Moco.


Time flew by without me even noticing. I enjoyed the second floor as much as the first and I have to say that the curators did an amazing job at arranging and displaying the pieces in a way that worked so well for all of them. The only thing that got under my skin after a while where the explanations and interpretations on the signs next to the art. Those are two things I don't associate with street art at all. When I'm on the streets and notice something cool, there's never an explanation of the artist's intentions - at least not with guerilla pieces like Banksy's. And even though Banksy very clearly uses his work to spread his messages, I prefer the message to be open to personal interpretation instead of being summarized by some art professors who think their opinion is the only right interpretation. I genuinely dislike such practices and since lack thereof is what got me so interested in street art, I didn't like seeing signs telling me how to interpret Banksy's monkeys, rats and anti-war pieces.


After about two hours, we'd seen the entire exhibition. We also quickly walked through the Roy Lichtenstein exhibition on the ground floor and in the basement. You don't have to pay separately for the exhibitions, so we mainly took a look because we'd already paid anyway. Roy Lichtenstein is known for his pop art pieces. I usually love pop art, but wasn't too impressed with the works on display there. I personally preferred the gift shop in the basement, because that's where I finally got my hands on a new book about Banksy's career. There was also a lot of clothing with his works on it, but since I'd already bought some in Bangkok, I went for postcards instead. They're now on my postcard wall, which was severely lacking some street art images.


I left the place in a great mood. Along with all the stuff I bought, my boyfriend and I got a Wish Pin, which we could stick in the new installation in the museum's garden. They're now at the bottom of a gigantic egg made from cork. And of course I made a wish while pushing it in; it's a Wish Pin after all. The whole thing made me happy, from the art to the book to the Wish Pin. I hope you get to experience the same thing if you get the chance to visit the Laugh Now exhibition at Moco in Amsterdam.

1 hour and 17 minutes. That's approximately how long it takes me to travel to Amsterdam by train. Yet for some reason I'd never been there. I'd been at the airport, sure. Dozens of times. The football stadium counts, I guess. In 2016 I visited a high school friend who studies there. And 10 years ago I went to the Van Gogh Museum with elementary school, but didn't see much apart from the backs of other visitors. So I'd technically never been to Amsterdam, to the touristy center, to the place we jokingly call 'Themepark Amsterdam' in the Netherlands. Until last weekend.

Last Saturday I dragged my boyfriend to Amsterdam because I wanted to go to a Banksy exhibition. That wasn't my only reason though. I also wanted to go to the American Book Center and see the canals so I could take some pretty pictures. I needed that tiny little trip. I'd been stuck in the Rotterdam area since I came home from Cuba and it was getting on my nerves. I was so happy to get out of my city, to see the endless farmlands of South Holland, then North Holland pass by until we got off the train right in the middle of Amsterdam. I was immediately taken aback by the extreme amount of people there, at the station. I got this sinking feeling, as if I'd made a big mistake...

There were even more people outside. The architecture distracted me for a good 30 seconds, then I realized I had to navigate this huge mass of people to get to the museum I wanted to visit. Sure, the canals and houses were as pretty as I'd imagined them, but with this many people around, there wasn't even a point in taking my camera out of my bag. Too many people, too little space to point my camera and take a picture of anything more than a tourist's back...

If I'd been there alone, I probably would have turned around. I don't handle crowds too well, especially not when they're made up of tourists. But my boyfriend pulled up Google Maps and soon we were walking to Moco Museum, which is near the famous Rijksmuseum. I almost lost my boyfriend multiple times because of the crowd pushing us away from each other or not letting us walk side by side. The smell of weed and urine attacked my nostrils more often and more viciously than I'd like to admit. I'd heard about all this, mostly about tourists flooding our capital and turning the city center into pure chaos, but I hadn't expected it to be this bad. Tourists were constantly blocking entire streets with their suitcases and quick breaks to take a look at their map.
'I feel sorry for the people living here,' my boyfriend mumbled. I couldn't agree more. Then I gave myself a mental slap in the face. What was I thinking? I'd been the one who wanted to come here, I'd been the one who wanted a break from the Rotterdam life. And now that I finally was in Amsterdam, I wasn't even trying to enjoy it. So I tried to enjoy it. I bit my tongue when I wanted to say 'I hate people, I hate crowds' for the billionth time and focused on the buildings and street art around me.


Things calmed down a little when we reached the Rijksmuseum. There was a talented group of musicians playing there and even though I couldn't see them (again, big crowd, tiny Envy), their music cheered me up. Then Moco's Banksy exhibition made me truly happy that I did go to Amsterdam that day. We spent two hours there without even noticing that time was flying. Once we were outside again, it was 2pm and we were both hungry as could be. Then we made a huge mistake: we decided to walk to the place where we wanted to have lunch.

I have no idea why we decided to walk, after the way I'd hated walking through the masses from the train station to the museum. I have some pretty dumb ideas every now and then.
My boyfriend had picked a vegan restaurant and I really wanted to go there. Despite my carnivorous habits, I was curious about vegan food. I had to taste it, at this particular place, even though it was 40 minutes away (note to boyfriend: never put ideas like that in my head, we'll both suffer). So we started walking. Within minutes we were both cranky, him because he was hungry, me because I couldn't take one more tourist rolling their suitcase against me. Once we reached the Vondelpark, things did get better though. I saw the first ducklings of the year and also showed my ignorance by thinking a piece of art was a sandbox and calling a statue demonic. Oops.


The Vondelpark was the opposite of the busy streets in the center. The pond was full of ducks and porta-potties, people were hanging out and working out, dogs were running away from their owners. Normal park stuff like that. I was almost sad to leave the park behind, but by that time my stomach was completely empty. It didn't help that when we'd thought we'd found the right street, we'd taken the wrong one after leaving the Vondelpark. Luckily we arrived at the Vegan Junk Food Bar not long after.

Lunch was just what we needed. Neither one of us was cranky when we left the place. We both chose one more place to visit. My boyfriend's pick was a store called A Space Oddity, a store that specializes in toys and action figures from tv series and movies. My wallet was a whole lot emptier when I left that place, because I couldn't resist a nanoblock Squirtle. I couldn't just leave my favorite Pokémon behind in big scary Amsterdam, right?
At that moment in time, I was loving my country's capital. Our next destination was only 12 minutes away: the American Book Center, a place I've wanted to visit since forever. My legs were starting to hate me for walking literally everywhere since morning, but the rest of me was enjoying Amsterdam. Even the crowds. Except for the crazy Frenchman on a bike, who took a wrong turn without looking and almost crashed into me. That's wasn't so great.

It was my turn to navigate and we actually made it in one piece. There were a few raindrops every now and then, but the dark clouds above the canals made everything look beautiful. Somehow I even managed to take a few pictures without tons of people in it. I loved the views and wished it'd been less crowded that day. On the other hand, I should have seen this madness coming, going to Amsterdam the day after King's Day.


I don't remember how much time we spent at the American Book Center. Probably more than it seemed. I spent way too much money there, not just on books, but also on postcards. When we left the store, I was kind of done with Amsterdam though. Especially when we couldn't find the pizza vending machine my boyfriend had seen when he went to Amsterdam in December. I threw in the towel. I'd had enough of being pushed around, not being able to walk at my own pace and not having time and space to take pictures. I realized I was missing Rotterdam.

Before I knew it, we were on a train back home. I was contemplating my extremely mixed feelings on my country's capital. If only it'd been less crowded, if only I hadn't walked everywhere... Even though I once used to complain about the same things in Rotterdam, I realized how much I preferred that city to Amsterdam. Maybe it's just because I grew up in the Rotterdam area, maybe it's in the genetic makeup of people from my area to prefer Rotterdam over Amsterdam, as some people here claim. Either way, Amsterdam wasn't really for me. I understand why people love it. I understand why people keep coming back. The architecture is awesome, the street art is amazing and there's something interesting on the corner of every street. I appreciate that, and one day I'll go back to see it all again. But for now I'm staying in good old Rotterdam, where the tourists aren't as numerous and the gems are still hidden.