Why Belgium? Why Brussels? We had no idea which destinations we should visit when Caren and I decided to treat ourselves to a European summer trip. Instead, we left it to chance, choosing the cheapest round trip flight that best fit our schedule. Luck has it, we ended up flying into Brussels, and leaving via Frankfurt. It may be a little unconventional, but we were attracted this plan because we get to meet with Caren’s friends who are residing in Brussels and Aachen, Germany.

Our enthusiastic local guide cum host in Brussels is Jian Ting (JT). He and his wife are Taiwanese expatriates who moved here because of work. Both acquaintances from Caren’s college years, we were glad we had them to rely on for useful local information and comfy bed to sleep.

Highlight of the photo: Belgian beer and Belgian fries!

Highlight of the photo: The warm and knowledgeable JT!

Strolling through quiet Brussel neighborhood streets

Beautiful architecture everywhere (Art Nouveau if not mistaken?)

A book store honoring its medieval history

A mural of Tin-Tin, anyone’s childhood memories?

Belgian waffles! Apparently there are two main varieties, the lighter crispier Brussels waffle and the thicker Liege waffle

How can we miss the infamous pissing boy

A modern looking Starbucks

A must try – Mort Subite, local fruity Belgian beer

Mussles with fries~

Nice food with great company

JT telling us about his travels around Europe

Macaroons!

Belgian chocolate has such a high reputation we were pleasantly surprised that all the chocolate we tasted were amazing

More sweets for the road

Pissing girl!

Cool pub with a down-to-earth feel

Browsing a herbal drug store

More chocolate gifts for us! Thanks JT!

Frederick Blondeel, JT’s favorite chocolatier, our favorite too~

Sampling our chocolate while we leave Brussels for Bruges