shopping in the hague.

...yeah, right.

I wouldn't call it so much as "shopping", cause when I first stepped into a shop here; I picked up a sweater, checked out the price and I just stormed out.

Price in Euro is just too expensive when converted in MYR! But yeah, considering the shop I went into was Zara, I guess a 150 euro of jacket IS the standard price. But justifying that ain't easy, really.

I might just freeze to death here, if the price is the standard.

 Scarf-and-muffler-two-way

Since it's a business trip, I figured to just bring one or two pair of jeans and more pairs of work pants. Turns out everyone here wears jeans to work! (but I haven't worn my jeans to the office yet, couldn't bring myself to. But promised myself I will after the voice of our "Corporate Attire" course' speaker fades away in my head)

So I just wore my work pants to shopping.

And I found a new way not to tuck shirts into pants - by tying the edge into the knot! I've thought of this as super unprofessional before, but once I tried it, it didn't look too bad. You can barely notice the knot, anyway!

But I was instantly relieved when I checked out other stores. There are V&D, H&M, HEMA, Albert Heijn (where I usually get the groceries. Even got halal meat!), Mango, and New Look!

When I first discovered New Look, I never wanted to go anywhere else. A nice top is less than 30 euros, a jacket is around 40 -50 euros (I'm guessing 50 euros is the standard price for a jacket) AND they have shelves of heels, boots and flats that are all 30 euros and below!!

Would've lived there if I could.

Anyway, managed to explore The Hague (or Den Haag) a bit.

I noticed that a lot of people just walk there without really shopping - almost like they're dismissing the shops and just focusing on the buildings! Who wouldn't anyway.

But I think this city has the most hijab-wearing Muslim women. I swear, even while I was trying on shoes at New Look, there were trendy Muslim teenagers just walked in with their groups and tried on everything (almost) on the shelves, so carefree and laughing away and enjoying themselves without really noticing anyone else. And vice versa; I was told that the Dutch people have gotten used to having seen hijab-wearing women here that it's become a norm.

You can never find that scene in Japan. And this kinda blows me away.

Anyway. Found nothing at New Look (they no have my size sobs), dropped by Accessorize to check out the scarves (finally!!), dropped by H&M.

Flats for 9.95 euros.

Not bad for a city in Holland, besides Amsterdam. Considering this is my home for the next two months, you might find me wandering around the shops for a few weekends until I got sick of it.