the peeing kid
October 24, 2010Brussels reminds me a bit of Paris. The roads are similar, some of the building architecture too and the people here speak French.
Please wear flats here because some of the roads I walked on today looked like this:
Ouch for stilettos right?!
Anyway, the whole time I walked around, the smell of Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolates surrounded my air. If I was a cartoon, there would be little squiggly lines in the air indicating this sweet smell. I was constantly hungry. Thank God I don’t have a sweet tooth, not much of a dessert fan.
If not, I would’ve invited some kilos into my body with those freshly made crispy waffles with chocolate syrup dripping off from the sides…ooh crap…now I want one.
Belgium is known for the lace and tapestry. Such pretty table clothes and napkins sold here.
Thought of getting a cute little delicate dress for Little Niece, but it’s just going to turn into brown polka dots when she spills stuff on herself. So, mission aborted. “Delicate” and Little Niece don’t go well together just yet.
Then I looked at the tapestry.
So beautiful!! Some of the scenery ones looked so real. You can get a small one for over a hundred euros, but the nice big ones cost thousands.
This world map one cost about 800+ euros, if I remember correctly.
Would be cool to put in a study room or library or somewhere you’re supposed to be intelligent in.
Just look at the details! Must take hours to do this.
This is random, but they sell durians in a supermarket! Haha. 10 euros per kg.
I went to Grand Place, which is a must-see for all tourists in Brussels.
It reminds me of Covent Garden in London, except Covent Garden actually has shops and boutiques surrounding it. More to see and feel. Hehe.
It’s a big square with historical buildings on all 4 sides.
Umm yeah, don’t know what these four sides represent…hold on, let me get the tour guide book.
Oh most of these buildings and guildhouses were destroyed by the French, so these are all rebuilt.
This is the Maison du Roi – it’s the home to Musee de laVille which displays paintings, tapestries and 650 tiny outfits of Manneken Pis (will get to that in a bit..)
This is The Hotel de Ville – no, not a hotel. It’s Brussel’s town hall, the finest civic building in the country. I was told people have their weddings here. How cool is that?! This is such a beautiful setting to have a wedding at.
Scarf: Burberry
The most comfortable and most practical coat in the world: Zara
Leggings: Topshop
Flats: Chanel
This is…umm…a statue thing (sorry I forgot the name!). Basically people come to touch him/her (didn’t check, too many people there) as a symbol of hope that they will soon return to Brussels again. You’re supposed to trail your fingers from his/her head all the way down his/her body to his/her toes. Kinda like molesting him/her a bit.
Don’t forget to wash hands afterwards k. A lot of people touch him/her everyday.
Then, I visited the most fascinating statue ever.
Brussels is known for Manekken Pis.
A kid who’s constantly peeing.
I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, the only kid that has abs.
Get it, Manneken Pis? Mannequin pissing? Hehe.
In the 17th century, this statue was built to reflect the need for fresh drinking water in the area. The French and British armies made attempts to steal the popular statue, but it was finally destroyed by a former convict. Doesn’t make sense right? One guy can steal it, but French and British armies couldn’t??? I’m not making this up I swear, I’m reading from the book.
The book says that the inspiration for this statue is unknown but one theory is that this boy was the son of a duke who peed against a tree in the middle of a battle. So, umm, they made a statue out of that. (???) Something about military courage….(???) A bit ironic because hello, the boy was so scared he peed!!
They remade the statue and it’s a tradition for heads of states who visit Brussels to donate their national costumes to this boy. He now has 650 outfits housed in Musee de la Ville.
Yet, he still chooses to be naked.
You’d be surprised to see how small this infamous statue actually is!
Small things come good packages…
Wait, that doesn’t sound right…
Oh, good things come in small packages.
*ahem* I’m small *ahem*
He may be small, but he is one huge attraction. He’s everywhere!! On shop displays, on chocolates, on candies, on waffles, on magnets, there was even a corkscrew made out of him (you can guess where they strategically positioned the screw).
My new little rude friend, the waffle ambassador.
Which colour, just choose!
Interesting culture. Nobody can forget something like this! If you’re ever pissed off at someone, just do this pose to them! Haha.
The whole time I walked down that street looking at different versions of this boy, only one thought came to my head.
“Oh no, now I really have to pee.”
Hi Vivy, Salam dari Brussels! :-)I’m one of your blog’s silent readers and I’m so excited to know that you are visiting Brussels, the city that I now lived in for 2 years. I hope that you have a great time & keep writing! π
d little dress is so cute..i wish had a baby girl rite now =)
hahahaha! everything is menneken pis!
(i still remember…saw one boy peeing at forbidden city, china hahaha!)
bruxellnoise: I’m excited to be here! Can’t believe I have a reader in Brussels. Haha. How do you like living here?
ash: you can buy it for my niece if you want. hehe.
biqque: a statue or an actual boy?!
Hehe, oh gosh, you missed the Tintin and Captain Haddock wall graffiti so near to the Menneken Pis…
There’s more to Brussels than that!!! π
Right Bruxelloise? π
And look for Gudrun Truffles, it’s yummier!
I can’t imagine how would i react if ANYBODY were to gimme that “peeing kid”‘s souvenir..hehe.
Especially if it is CHOCOLATE..lol*imagining hard*
Hi proudduck. I must say I really enjoy reading your blog, you’re quite the entertainer! π and a looker too! Have fun in Brussels and London.
Btw, I’m one of Alia Ishak’s friend. π
Ouch.Nice bebeh.XD.I love wafle.Wow.Nice statue.I think 18SX one.HAHAH
LOL! Vivy, I’ve been to Brussels as well, and it was soooo awkward seeing Menneken Pis all over the place!
Hahahaha..i’m laughing all the way through this post…just too funny..thanks for making up my day PD…
Hope that i get to visit this place someday..and enjoy your remaining holidays!!! Work hard play hard! =)
Vivy,
Thanks for replying my comment. I like living in here but the French is still a challenge! π By the way have you tried “Frites with Samurai sauce” (Belgian famous fries with a spicy mayo sauce). Are you going to stay here long?
ahahaaaaaaa…… at first, my eyes weren’t blink for extra long time, than i cant stop laughing….
but if i’m not mistaken, this lil-mischiev-with abs-boy is also famous in some other country too, but will confirm again with u.
okay, lets con’t laughing…. agagaggagagagaaaaaaaa *jaw dropped!*
Hi PD, I’ll be travelling to London and Paris at the end of the year. Am searching for winter wear and you mentioned that Zara sells the most comfy coat. Serious? Did you get your coat (e one above) recently at Zara? Can the coats withstand 1-4 degree celcius?
Thanks in advance!
PD do you add your blog readers as friends on FB?
Hey, in which shop in Brussels have you found fresh Durians. Malaysians living in Belgium have never point me to any such shop.
Please, where is it ?
You’ve made me want to go to Zara!!
he peed in the middle of the war indeed, but not against a tree. legend has it that he peed on the fuse attached to thousands of explosive in the battle, and thus saved the whole town. so yeah, he was courageous indeed. I would’ve run at lightning speed if I saw the lit fuse, who would’ve thought of peeing on it? crazy.
ervanj: aw man, too bad i was short of time!
appledia: haha you probably wouldn’t eat the chocs.
kimmy: thank you so much! π
haiqal: definitely 18SX hehe
wowo: did you enjoy Brussels?
Mirah: work hard, play hard! thank you.
bruxelloise: didn’t get to try the frites! next time i hope.
angel: which country?!
janisme: well i guess it depends which type of material you buy. end of the year will be reallyyyy cold, so don’t forget the gloves and scarves. you’d probably find a good coat at zara, yep. have fun!
meow: i try to keep fb quite private since i’m already so public on PD and twitter π
Didier: am so sorry i can’t remember where…but i know it’s close to the grand place.
faziladini: why, are you having a “sickness” too? hehe
passerby: now that’s interesting information. does that really work? peeing on explosives won’t make it function? that’ll solve a lot of problems then…
I love the fresh waffles smell. They smell sooo good, taste even better. A bit crispy. Anyone knows where can we find those kind of waffles here in Msia? Waffles here mostly are soft and.. bland