A well-spent Saturday enjoying Vietnamese Cuisine - Life in NL

in Foodies Bee Hive3 days ago

Should I start writing right now, or maybe a little bit later, maybe tomorrow, or day after tomorrow!!! That tomorrow turned into weeks, months, and never came until today. It's not actually procrastination, I consider it a lack of creativity and dedication. A lot has happened lately which changed my life situation and has arrived with consequences. So you might be thinking I am making excuses to justify my delay, but in real life, everything is different. I have a lot on my plate already, so writing something with dedication wasn't possible for me anymore. Even though I planned to write atleast 2 posts per month and put it on my to-do monthly list, that day never arrived. For the past 2 years, I have been dealing with a lot mentally, which has led me to seek professional help. It was never easy, and still now I struggle dealing with my existence and survival. I was surviving to exist in this world, basically, and now that survival gave me a goal to live life. Right now, my goal is not just to survive but to live life, to have a goal for the future.

Nobody understood my struggle, not even my own family, so I don't expect anyone to understand me. These two years with hundreds of constant therapies left valuable lessons in life. I am still in therapy, but like I said, I can see or imagine a future version of me. I learned to value my life and am trying to find a purpose. That is huge progress I have been noticing in myself. I now think I am capable of finding my purpose, and that's a development. Even though my depression and traumas shadow me all the time, I don't let them break me or manipulate me all the time. I don't consider my life a curse.

How have I been doing?? I am okay, can't say anything more for now. I am now doing a business course, I study, I go to therapies, I give my dog time, and I play games. For now, that's enough. On weekends, I don't do much, I mostly spend my time watching Netflix. I don't go out a lot on weekends because my weekdays are intense. Due to lack of concentration issues, I normally have to give my time to study rather than usual. I am looking for a chance to live life, that's it...


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The weather is nice in the Netherlands, so last weekend I decided to have a nice lunch in a restaurant. I always have a weak spot for asian cuisine, so when I found a Vietnamese restaurant, I couldn't resist myself of not visiting the restaurant and tasting their food. The restaurant is called MR. PHAN, an asian restaurant located at Almere Centrum, Netherlands. Not very far away from the place where I live now, in fact, it's walking distance from my place. Their menu was displayed on the walkway, so it was easy to explore what to eat before going inside the restaurant.


MR. PHAN - Almere


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It was not a fancy restaurant; no reservation was needed, even though it is recommended to have a reservation before dining. But what I understood was that anyone can go inside and have a meal whenever they want to.


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The interior of the restaurant was nothing fancy, it was a typical asian restaurant where you listen to asian music and enjoy Vietnamese Pho or other dishes. What is PHO? It's soup noodles with vegetable topping and meat. You have both vegan and non-vegan options. You can choose spicy or non-spicy rice or egg noodles. They serve some side dishes, and I honestly can't pronounce their name. PHO is a comfort food, a popular food in Vietnam. What is the difference between Ramen and PHO, I think technique and cooking style...

At first, my choice was to have PHO, but the,n when I saw they had a ramen option on their menu, I changed my order and ordered ramen with beef. Trust me, one bowl of PHO or Ramen is enough to reduce your hunger. For drinks, I ordered Ginger Ale.


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Don't judge the food by the picture because my camera didn't do justice to capturing food photos. The serving time was pretty quick. They didn't let their customers wait for the food instead, they gave the customers time to enjoy their food. I personally love the energy of the restaurant, pretty positive vibes. When you love the food that is served, you don't care about the atmosphere/surroundings much. The restaurant was very clean, and that was enough for me to enjoy my lunch...

The broth of the ramen was pretty delicious, very thick with full of flavours. They added egg noodles, beef thin slices, an egg, black fungus, seaweed, and Bok choy in ramen. The portion was enough for one person, and the spice level was mild. So, overall, one bowl was enough for my lunch, and I didn't crave dessert.

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I used to visit a lot of restaurants before, but now I don't anymore. Unless it's not necessary, I don't plan to have lunch or dinner outside, so going to a Vietnamese restaurant to treat myself was kind of a celebration to me. I wanted to enjoy myself while treating myself with comfort food I liked. That's what I did. My overall experience was nice, and the food was good, tasty, and flavourful. Not every asian restaurant can serve such tasty broth or noodles in the Netherlands, I am saying this with my own experience...

So this was one of my Saturdays, nothing much, just ate food and came back home...

Where is my photo enjoying the food?? There is no photo of mine because I am dealing with a body-shaming issue because I gained weight...🤣. I guess I need a therapy lesson...🤣


Love

Priyan...



I am @priyanarc.... An architect, a dreamer, and a passionate writer who loves to write about life. I try to present my own perspective and experiences. Please leave your feedback and criticism because it's the only way I can know and reach your mind and thoughts easily...



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Oh Priyan, I always enjoy your posts a lot! I have never tried Vietnamese, but your photos brought a nice perception for me, so i will keep it in mind. I will check if there are similar restaurants near the place I live.
On the other side, it takes lots of courage of you to share your current point of view and the most important thing I see is that you are fighting for it. You are strong and you have your own power.
I would also like to tell you that for me, doing things like photography and going outside has been really helpful .. I am not sure about how I would be if it was not for that.
I wish you the best and I am here whenever you need someone to talk to ..
!LADY


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Sometimes a post like this is cathartic, freeing your demons into the open is always better than storing them up to grow and fester. Fuck worrying about going out, your life, live it the way you choose, don't let society dictate to you. Society is a shitbag. Filled with so called "influencers", they need to fuck off and get a proper job, dont't be fat don't be thin, get turkish teeth, wear this, wear that. FUCK the lot of them....You are not a lone my friend.

Netflix and chill!

don't let society dictate to you. Society is a shitbag.

Yes, that's what I understood lately because my journey is my journey, and I am on my own boat. Social media is like a happy fake screen, they are just all about business, marketing, and making money. I went to a restaurant after seeing the video, and it was a big mistake. Hype, trend is not for me, they just depress me...

Filled with so called "influencers", they need to fuck off and get a proper job,

Hahaha, they make tons of free money, so they forgot about the real-life proper job, I guess. Turkish teeth!!! Hahaha, are those white fake teeth!!!

I am really glad that you took the time to read my post, I really appreciate it...

Have a nice week...

Yes turkish teeth, ridiculously white!

stay strong.

I would have also chosen Ramen :) We just had visited Pho place recently and my wife had Pho and I chose curry, I must say that I like Indian curries better, but I still enjoyed it. We have not been to a Ramen place in a while, which is probably because my wife prefers Pho to Ramen :)

We used to go regularly to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, but it is a little bit of a drive from our house so we haven't been there in about a year or so.

And don't think too much about gaining weight, it is not a huge deal as everyone gains weight with age, that is normal.

PHO is different from Ramen, and Ramen broth is thicker than PHO. PHO uses rice glass noodles, which I don't like much, but ramen has wheat noodles, which I love a lot...Have you tried Thai green curry!! It's spicy but delicious... I do love indian curries, but as a Bangladeshi, I prefer Bengali curries 🤣, I am biased...I really wanted to taste Tonkotsu ramen, but they use pork broth, which I don't eat...Have you tried it?

I guess it's time for you to go to that restaurant to have that ramen...

don't think too much about gaining weight, it is not a huge deal as everyone gains weight with age, that is normal.

That's true, but you know we, women, have some kind of weird mindset when it comes to body weight...🤣

Well....this post came out of blue and what a great, upbeat and sassy post it is! Someone sounds like they're seriously in charge of their own life. I'm so happy for you 😀

As for pho, how can there be a vegan version? I thought the whole point was it's made from beef bones and the bone marrow is what gives it such a strong beefy flavour?

Eat pho, sit and look at boats. Do what you want, when you want and keep making progress.

Thank you for such a wonderful update, you made my day.

Take care always 😀

Someone sounds like they're seriously in charge of their own life.

I am trying because I am bored...🤣🤣, I am bored with my misery...🤣...

Well, on a serious note, yes, I am trying to accept the reality and to do something for myself. I know I have chosen a long way, maybe a difficult way, but I will take steps slowly. I love to learn, so studying helps me to get back my concentration little by little. Also, I talk to my fellow classmates, so that helps...I thought instead of taking a full-time job so suddenly, a course study might help me to feel normal and better...

I thought the whole point was it's made from beef bones and the bone marrow is what gives it such a strong beefy flavour?

I guess they use a magic recipe because in NL everything is possible. I heard most of the restaurants, especially asian, don't provide authentic food due to cultural preferences, they serve fusion food. For example, I never found authentic indian food in Almere, the city where I live...So, no idea how they make a vegan version...🤣

Eat pho, sit and look at boats.

Reminding of boats, my next travel post will be about a harbor area, a fishing village, and a million-dollar yacht... So, definitely it will be an interesting post for you...🤣

Take care my friend, I appreciate your uplifting comment...

That's great news and I hope you keep fighting to stay on this positive track.

Can't wait for the new boat post, I'm guessing around September? Haha 😉

You take care always.

Tha restaurant have a good vibes. Look so cozy and warm.

The place is perfect, though I never tried Vietnamese foods before, it makes me crave for it and hoping I can visit the place very too. 😇

Oh dear I hope you come out totally victorious of everything that happens to you, good to know that you are fighting your own battles, that you don't give up and you are persevering, besides a good meal always helps, and from what you say you have enjoyed your Ramen.
I send you a hug 🤗

I'm really proud of you! I really am! There were times when reading such post from you seemed very unlikely, but step by step, here we are, you are handling the situation well. Yes, I know, life is not ideal, never will be, but if you look back to where you were and where you are now, you can appreciate the progress. It is a huge achievement, even if every day or every hour of this journey has been a struggle. You're on the right track and better times will come.

I was looking at your food photos and was thinking I've never had such dish, but I guess I would not say no to it 😆

You know what I always say. Never give up! Now you have the proof that you can make great progress and that's all it counts. 🤗❤️

Yes, I know, life is not ideal, never will be, but if you look back to where you were and where you are now, you can appreciate the progress.

Absolutely, I mean, when I think about 2022, 2023, I know what it was and what kind of dark phase it was. I know I will never ever forget those moments, and I guess that's why I appreciate my process and progress. I know the journey I have made, and it's still ongoing, but the good thing is I can think; I have space in my head to think. I am not fully blocked like before, and that's huge progress. I also hope there will be better days in the future when I will embrace my darkness in a positive way...

I've never had such dish, but I guess I would not say no to it 😆

I would suggest you try Korean or Japanese ramen if you like soup and noodles, really delicious...

Now you have the proof that you can make great progress and that's all it counts. 🤗❤️

You know I often appreciate your kind words, they helped me a lot...

Your ramen with beef order looks appetizing and a bowl of it surely is filling. It seems that this restaurant has good service and you were satisfied with your dining experience. I haven't eaten authentic pho so I can't really tell but I had authentic ramen and it was really satisfying.

You may be undergoing some challenges these days but you seem to be taking things positively and you're optimistic of the future, and that shows how resilient you are. Take care! 💟

I haven't eaten authentic pho so I can't really tell but I had authentic ramen and it was really satisfying.

I have eaten authentic ramen but never pho, so I also don't know the absolute taste. I prefer ramen over PHO, to be honest, in terms of flavor. I also love lumpia a lot, perfect starter...I eat lumpia a lot whenever I can...

You may be undergoing some challenges these days

I have been on psychosis treatment for the past 2 years, so life has been challenging for me... But atleast now, my brain can think a bit more and can take steps for the future development...

Thanks a lot for stopping by...

So, ramen is the choice for us. 😀 Lumpia is one of the best.
We eat a lot of lumpia here too. We also have it with rice for meal...

It wasn't an easy path but you've come out strong and optimistic. It's good now that you've taken control and I believe you have the inner strength to navigate life's challenges. Stay healthy and all the best with the course that you are taking. 🌺💝

A business course, look at you! Remember your Hive friends when you are making your millions!

I know you aren't blogging as much and that's understandable, but it's well worth the wait! 💖

A business course, look at you! Remember your Hive friends when you are making your millions!

Huh, nope I am not having that kind of big dreams, I am just hoping for a corporate job 🤣....

but it's well worth the wait! 💖

I still have some travel posts left, so maybe next post will be a travel post if I regain my energy and creativity 🤣... I hope you are doing good...

We will all be here waiting!

As you know I fight your same issues and hope soon the exit the survival mood. By the way so happy to se you back here and hear you're feeling better with new goals ❤️ i follow your travel on ig and I'm a bit jealous 😘😘💕💕 now even more because Vietnamese cuisine looks super good !!

As you know I fight your same issues and hope soon the exit the survival mood.

You and me, we both kind of deal with similar feelings, and I can relate to your struggle as well. We both have bad days and I do struggle still. I take everything step by step, even though I fail a lot...

i follow your travel on ig and I'm a bit jealous 😘😘💕💕

Hahaha, don't fall for my IG because most of the posts and videos are old and trips from 2023 and 2024 🤣. My friends always get angry with me because I post old photos, not recent ones... 😂

Have you tried Vietnamese cuisine?

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I'm so glad you shared a little of your time with us. Don't get overwhelmed; everyone moves at their own pace. The important thing is that you feel good about what you're doing.

The food looks great, that ramen looks gorgeous. If I ever get the chance, I'll try that recipe.

Take care of yourself. May my best wishes and blessings be with you.