My first few stops in Brussels

I slept through the trip and just woke up right in time when the train stopped at Brussels-Midi station. Note: They have a Midi, Central and North (Nord) Station. So make sure to check the address of your accommodation and ensure that you get off the right station.

I got off the Central Station and found my way to the M1 Subway, buying a ticket to Colin de Flandres. I noticed that the stations were going through constructions and the walls were abused with graffiti. It was a surprise to me though since I’ve read a few reviews about the city itself.

I got out of Colin Flandres and quickly lost my bearing. The instruction on the hostebookers wasn’t that much detailed but I guess I was to be blamed for not researching further on google maps. I felt like I was in a different country, more of Middle Eastern. Majority of the people I couldn’t talk to even in my worse of French. There was one thing in common though, they all pointed me to the police station.

So there I was queued up at the police station, my first stop in Brussels…. Just to ask for directions. The policeman said “drwat and then drwat”. Read, turn right, and then right. I can follow instructions good…. So that’s what I did.

It was supposed to be a 10-minute walk to Meinenger (my accommodation), but I ended up walking in circles for half an hour. When I was getting tired with my bag, I decided to ask another person. I then realized that mr police guy meant turn right then at the channel, turn right. So… I discovered that the hostel was beside the channel…the river… duh.

I checked in and was welcomed by a guy with all smiles. Very friendly and chatted to me about his travels to New Zealand. Customer service was tops at that place. The Meinenger Hotel chain does use the title of “hotel” but in reality, they are well priced hostels around Europe, with top quality bedrooms. Good that they have a service kitchen. The one in Brussels was one of the latest additions to their chain of hotels.

The whole building was an old factory/warehouse, now transformed to a hostel. It was really cool, and huge. It just missed a window I could open, but everything else was awesome. However, because it was so big, the environment was very impersonal. A Bunch of school kids filled the corridors with their wailing noise and people didn’t talk to each other as much. The homey hostel feel I had back in Canada/NZ was something amiss.

At that point, I was just dead tired and haven’t had lunch yet. So around 4 pm, I started cooking my 1-minute noodles and got out my can of sardines. By 4:30 I decided to do my laundry.

So, my second adventure stop in Brussels was hanging out at a local launderette. There was a lady looking after her laundry who was really nice and helped me through the instructions coz there was NOTHING written in English at all. I struggled. Eventually I got it working, after she helped me through each instruction. She was superbly lovely. Before leaving she made sure everything was in order and reminded me about the token for the dryer  God Bless her.

I stayed there for a while then decided to cross the street to a nearby call station to greet Mommy a happy birthday. I woke her up at 1 am Manila time, had a chat and updated her where I was. She told me what they had planned for the day, which was just a simple service and eat out with Dad.

I waited till it was time to move my clothes to the dryer, then stood for a while outside the launderette. I stared at the buildings outside and admired the different verandas. The streets were busy, it was a Friday night. It was true, there was such a massive diversity of culture and people in Brussels. I couldn’t even recognize if someone was the real Belgian deal or not. But for some reason, I was smiling. The breeze was cool and I felt like I was a local. At that moment, I was glad I used the local launderette rather than the one in the hostel. It was cheaper and well, I had that time to feel the local vibe.

I started reading through the Book of Life and after a few pages, stopped and allowed the last few lines in one of the chapters, settle in my mind. I tend to do that when reading. When I encounter a paragraph or phrase that I can relate to, I stop. Internalizing the words and feeling what the author’s emotions. And I know when’s the next time to move on through the next few pages till I hit that stop again.

Around 7 pm I was on my way back to the hostel. It started drizzling in Brussels. Perfect timing to be done with the laundry. For the night I had 2 roomates from Montreal, a lady and her teenager nephew.