The Adventure is ending.....last day in Belgium

Our friend, Shinichi's flight was at 11 am so I woke up around 9 am to have our last breakfast together. This was ultimately one of my favourite breakfasts of all time. We said our farewells and off he went. Bf wasn't feeling well so he slept in for a bit. We had to leave around 11 cause check out was that time but the train didn't run to the airport till 12 pm so we waited at the lobby for a bit. Thank goodness we packed the day before or else we probably wouldn't have time to. We bought some souvenirs of chocolates for family and fries and we shared a belgian waffle with chocolate syrup and hazelnut toppings. OMG was this ever delicious! I wish I had more. Our flight left at 2:30 pm to Iceland which was another 2 hr layover. We had fish and chips and a burger at the airport. The fish was suburb. Super flaky and moist. I realized their seafood must be delicious and fresh in Iceland. Another reason to visit this place again and not just the airport. We arrived in Vancouver around 6:30pm and we grabbed dinner at congee noodle house on broadway. I missed chinese food that reminds me of home. We unpacked and passed out once again.

Sadly this is my last post on my journey to tml. It was definitely a crazy ride. I can't believe I went to Europe it was a dream of mine since I was in high school. My choir trip got cancelled back in high school and we were going to travel around Europe to sing in cathedrals and churches and monumental places but that dream shattered when 9/11 came. Now this year I was in Europe for the same reason music. I've always had a passion for music. Ever since I was 5 I started on the piano till Grade 10. Music theory was also incorporated in my life from writing essays about composers like Schumann to Chopin to playing their pieces. I'll never forget my journey there and I will definitely come back to explore more of Europe. I've only had a small bite of the cookie and I want the whole cookie.

Detox Day

Woke up around 10am this time we wanted to get some zzzz's for our 2nd last day in Belgium. Me and bf had breakfast while our friend was resting. We asked the TML rep what detox was and she said the shuttle will be at a certain location which leaves around 2pm. We got ready and waited for our friend to join us. We went to grab breakfast for him...a close by bagel shop. I had a coffee to keep me awake. We waited for the shuttle which took about 20-30 mins. We weren't sure if the location was where it was supposed to be but most of the ppl planning to head to the same location was also waiting in the area. Finally the bus came with NO AC....it was at least 28-30 degrees outside and the bus was super hot. The ride was about 20-30 mins away. We ended up at a botanical park with some castles, a small lake. The event was held at a open grass area. There was medieval games, hula hooping, yoga, barber to do beard shaves, massage chairs etc. The event was quite organized. They served fruit and veggie smoothies, healthy servings of food ie: quinoa, broccoli, roasted chicken etc. There was fruits: cherries, watermelon etc and a chocolate fountain. Overall a very relaxing day just hanging out. There was a tea section where we can choose our teas we want to take with us. It ended around 7pm and the shuttle was there to take us back. We headed back to our hotel to get ready for our evening out for a formal dinner and drinks. We wanted to try one of the dishes Belgium was known for which was mussels and fries so we ended up at Au Vieux Bruxelles. We tried the mussels and fries with the bacon and we shared the chicken and the meatloaf. The mussels were fresh no fishy ness at all. The fries were ok. The chicken was dry but the meatloaf was nice and tender. The meatloaf was my favourite. I'm going to try to replicate that dish at home. For dessert we had the creme brulee and the chocolate cake with ice cream. Overall, a great meal. Afterwards we headed to a bar close to our hotel: London Brasserie for some drinks and chit chats. We ended the night around 1am and went straight to bed. Overall a great way to explore the city but still have thoughts of the nights before.

The Adventure continues: Sunday July 22

The last official day was hard to get up to. I was tired but it was the last day for us so I little sad. Woke up around the same time. Showered and got dressed. We went to grab breakfast, took the shuttle and off we went. We went to meet up with our friends at the home stay. Left around 2 pm to enjoy the last day of the festival for us. We only did a week of tml. It is usually two weekends. We decided since it was our last day we wanted to go up front on main stage to watch Timmy Trumpet. You really do a get a different perspective up front. You see all the details of the main stage: the decor, the colors, the dj up close. There is definitely more energy and presence at the front. Because I did my research before this trip I heard there was a lot of theft that happens at the front. So I was very careful with my belongings and my friends belongings. I didn't want anyone to lose anything or else we will be thinking about it non stop. We roamed around after the set was done. I lined up about 30 mins for frozen yogurt which was definitely not worth the wait. Overall, everyone was friendly and was just there to have a good time. You meet people from all over the world, from young to old. It was definitely a great experience and vibe you can't get here in Vancouver. We went to see W&W at the freedom stage (the hot ass stage) just sweating...and then we roamed around to the trance stage back to end the night at main stage. The main stage light show was incredible. Nothing like it here. Martin Garrix ended the night for us. It was sad but it was all over for us...back to the shuttle we go to our hotel. Showered and passed out!

Adventure Begins....Saturday July 21...Day 2

So I woke up at 9 am, got showered, dressed and got ready by 10 am. Bf woke up at 10 am. Our friend, Shinichi was at our door around 10. I went downstairs to have breakfast with him first. I had the usual: pancake with maple syrup and bacon. Next serving was the cheese: Comte, prosciutto, cucumber and tomatoes. It was the best breakfast I ever had at a hotel and it was complimentary with the stay. The shuttle always comes on time. And got to the line up outside. But bf took a while longer and had to take the last shuttle. During that time they played the first day sets from main stage on the bus. It was good because I missed some sets the day before so it was good to listen to what I missed. About the drivers here. It takes about 30 mins to get to Boom at 11:30 am but it takes about 45 mins to an hour at 2 am without traffic. Both the drivers take different routes which really confuses me. I did some research before hand and I found out that the drivers usually don't know where they are going. And this goes for bus drivers, shuttles, taxi's etc. I found that to be super strange. But, most cars I noticed driving around do not have GPS. Oh and another thing that was strange to me is that the garbage was left outside the buildings of restaurants, homes etc. They don't put them in garbage bins. They are just left on the streets. I find this to be very unattractive as a tourist. Not sure why. Maybe to use less plastic. So because my bf was on the shuttle we had to wait for him at the stop. He took about 15 mins. Afterwards we decided to meet up with our friend we met in Bali. He was staying nearby at a home camped outside in the back yard. It was a home that was built by hand by the owner. It took him about 2 years to build. The host was super friendly, Cathleen was her name. She was very accommodating. We chit chat about the first day, had a few drinks. We met Duva and Ari. Great people! Duva was from Australia and Ari was from Belgium. She mentioned that it was just as hard to get tickets here as it is for people around the world. She said TML wants less locals because they spend less on accommodation, food, travel etc then the rest of the world which makes sense. We got in the same way like before. Easy access no big deal. Went to grab some water and started our day. There was food stands everywhere so we tried out their belgium fries which I think was better than the one we had in the city. Armin Van Buuren was one of my favorite dj's that night and so was Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike....LEFT LEFT LEFT, RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT....I almost felt like I was going to fall and get trampled on. Almost every set we watched played Avicii songs because of his passing. We ended off the night with Alesso and our first fireworks of the weekend. It was great. The main stage was designed so perfectly. I wished the clam shells opened up that would be cool. And off we go 45 mins walk to our shuttle. We each had a hot dog which we had to down before we can enter the shuttle. That was the fastest hot dog eating challenge I ever had. Not enjoyable I must say. I didn't enjoy my hot dog as I liked to. First hotel stop was always us. Thank goodness. Showered and off to bed.

Adventure Part 2: Friday July 20, 2018

So the big day has arrived. I got up around 9am to do some P90x, squats and some planks before the day started. And I got ready and going by 10am. The hotel offered free breakfast during our stay which was awesome. They had bread, jam, waffles, pancakes, coffee, tea etc. My favorite combination was the pancake with maple syrup, my 2nd serving consisted of smoke salmon, cucumber, tomatoes, prosciutto and cheeses. The food was so fresh, and isn't as salty as what we have in Canada. I feel as though our food contains to much preservatives. The only downfall there was there fruit. It isn't as tasty and full flavored as the ones we have here. The shuttle arrived at 11:30pm to pick us up to go to Boom. There is usually 2 shuttles one that leaves on time and another one that leaves just a little bit afterwards. They will hand each one of us a bottle of water and off we go. Our shuttle ride was about 45 mins drive away. It was a beautiful sunny day the weather was about 25 degrees. It drizzled for a bit about 15 mins max but overall a great day not to hot and the clouds gave us some shade from the sun. There was two security line ups. The first one was very relaxed just pat down on your bags. We had to remove any filled water bottles or food. Next line up was more secured with the metal detectors, sniffer dogs etc. But overall, still very relaxed security compared to Vancouver. We then headed straight to our 3 day large locker rental which was about $50 cdn for all 3 days for 3 ppl. The locker was big enough to put 3 big back packs and jackets, caps etc. It was a very good decision because we didn't want to carry so much with us. We bought waterproof clothing, socks, bag covers just in case it rains so we stored all the items in the lockers. Next up we needed to fill out water bags with water so we went to the bathroom sink to do so. The water was drinkable but not cold, luke warm. I wish they had an option to have cold water and a separate fountain for refilling water because the line was long from all the people using the bathrooms. I had planned out which dj's I wanted to see but the idea flew out the window. When your in tomorrowland schedules don't matter. Every stage was far from each other. So we just went with the flow. We explored everywhere to see all the stages we could that day. Time flew when you were there. At 5pm, me and my bf had dinner reservations at the Tomorrowland Restaurant. It was about $150 cdn for the both of us. The line took forever for big groups we waited about 20 mins. Unfortunately it was scheduled during my bf's favourite dj's: Vini Vici. He was disappointed that he had to go eat but I will make it up to him later in the future :P. We got seated right across the stage at the restaurant where you can see the full stage. We were served bread with oil, and then chips with 3 different sauces. Afterwards the main meal was the fish with pasta for me and the veal for my bf. Overall, a great meal. Nothing over the top. It was mostly for the view and the fine dining experience. My favourite dj's that night was Oliver Helden's at freedom stage where the light show was on the top of the ceiling and on the side. The place was filled with ppl. So many ppl that you will definitely lose some weight from all the sweating you will be doing there. He definitely surprised me. Of course I had to watch my all time favourite dj who made me fall in love with edm in the first place and that was Tiesto. He has definitely gone to the main stream side of his music but I supported him regardless. The night ended at 1am. We then had to catch the shuttle back to our hotel. The shuttle leaves at 2am. It was about a 45 min walk to the shuttle with a huge crowd leaving the area as well. We got home around 3am, showered and passed out.

The Adventure begins....Tomorrowland: Thursday July 19th

Our flight leaves around 3:30pm in Vancouver, BC. We got to the airport around 12pm. We grabbed lunch at Aberdeen before our flight. We flew Icelandair, some turbulence to our layover in Iceland. Basic service of water, tea or pop. Our layover in Iceland was about 2 hrs. We had our breakfast/lunch there which cost $50 cdn. Very expensive in Iceland. The yogurt, skyr was delicious. Nothing like that found here in Vancouver. We arrived to Iceland around 5am then off to Brussels which was about a 3 hour flight. We got to Belgium at 12:30pm. There was absolutely no security, checking of any kind we just walked straight through which we thought was kind of strange. There was a sim card booth which I purchased 2 sim cards for about $40 cdn. Mine turned out not working but bf's was...so it turned out to be more expensive than cheap. It was about 4 gb of data. 100 mins of calling within Europe. Afterwards we went to grab our luggage to catch the underground train which was about 9 euros per person. It was about 4-5 stops away to our hotel. Very convenient. The place was deserted on a Thursday. Most of the signage was in french. I could read some french but not all. After we got off the train the hotel, Red Radisson was about a 5 min walk away. Very convenient. We got there and met our friend, Shinichi from Japan. He got to Belgium around 6am so he was exploring Belgium already. We checked into our room which was just across our room to our friend. We unpacked and got ready to explore the town. We just randomly walked around. Walked about an hour away from our hotel. We saw the famous "pee pee" boy "Manneken Pis" and some very beautiful old structures laced in gold. Brussels has a lot of history, most of the buildings were made out of brick. The ground was cobblestone so very hard to walk in. Not many ppl around just mostly tourists around the areas we traveled too. We decided to grab some fries on the way which Belgium is known to eat fries with mayo. Nothing spectacular that you can't get here in Vancouver. We went to Leonidas for some chocolates about $1.50 cdn each piece. Then we headed straight to the Invited Party. Which was situated near an abandon train station. There was food stalls and a stage. Not many ppl we got there around 7 and we left about 9pm. It was quite disappointing to be honest. We got back to our hotel around 10pm and just decided to have a chill night before the big party.