The Netherlands - Rotterdam Centraal Opening Day

My morning today was greeted by a lovely live performance of Bob Marley's song "Every Little Thing is Gonna Be Alright".

There was definitely something going on in Rotterdam Centraal Station. There were multiple live performances at the station, covering a wide range of music like pop, jazz and classical. The spirit-lifting mood began early in the morning. I came around 8 AM today, and it was already quite lively.

Activities were usual: during the rush hour, there was a stream of incoming and outgoing people going to school or work.

But still, it was very nice that people would stop to listen to the performances, even for just a couple minutes.

Today, the 13th of March, was the official opening day of the central station. The station had been going a series of renovations and sometimes I found it annoying to have some paths outside the station partially blocked due to construction works. Well, now it's finally done!

It seemed that the King also came to celebrate the opening of the station. Too bad I was at work. It seemed that there were a lot of people coming to celebrate.

On the way home from work, I had to stop by at the station again and there was an even bigger band performance starting at 6 PM.

And of course, the smaller performances closer to the train platforms still continued. This time, there was an opera performance, which I found very captivating. I stayed to listen to 3-4 songs they performed.

I left the station around 7, and the station was still pretty lively from simultaneous musical performances. It was a very joyful moment for me, especially after getting mentally exhausted from work.

Until I found out that the bike I parked behind the central station was stolen. Ah, bike thieves, thou art heartless bitches. I locked it against a pole with a chain, and also locked the wheels with an additional lock. And it was still gone :'(

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Sweden - Cellphone Theft in Stockholm

I'd like to warn you if you plan to travel to Stockholm in the future. Someone stole my phone while we were eating at a cafe, and this method, according to the local police, has been commonly used in the recent two months.

Here is my full recollection of the event:

I went to Stockholm last week with two other friends of mine. We arrived around 2 PM at the train station, and after checking in at the hotel we decided to have a lunch at a cafe in one of the streets near our hotel in Kungsgatan.

The weather was nice and we decided to grab the seats outside the cafe. When I arrived from the cashier from getting some napkins, I saw a man in hoodies approached our table with a piece of A4 paper that looked like a note with some handwritten texts of a language we did not recognize. We thought he was weird, and that he was a beggar. We gave him cold what-the-hell, go-away stares and after about 10 seconds he went away.

Having a habit of taking pictures of food with my phone, I took my phone out and after taking pictures of delicious-looking quiche on my plate, I (think) I put it on the table. A few seconds after we savour our food, the man came again for the second time. This time, only about two seconds. He put the paper right on top of my dish, and more than anything else, I was annoyed.

We finished our lunch at around ten to four, and we had to leave because we signed up for a free tour around the Old City. And then I started realizing that my phone was gone when I wanted to check the time.

We ran back to the restaurant, and we could not find the phone. Three of the waitresses said that this kind of cellphone theft incident had happened 2-3 times before. I was already wondering why no action was taken if they knew that the thief operates around the area.

My friend tried to call the police, only to end up describing the whole incident for 30 minutes and was told "Thank you for the information, now please go to the police station."

To our surprise, it was difficult to find the police station because hardly anyone knows where it is. Finally, we found one at the central station, but it is closed during the weekend. Bummer!

The central police station, open during the weekends, was on the other island on the west of the station, about 10 minutes on foot. In the end, all I could do was to get a police report and hopefully it is covered by travel insurance.

So please, if you see a suspicious-looking guy approaching you, watch out for your belongings. Don't let your guard down just because Sweden, in general, is a very safe country. The man looked Eastern European, and more specifically, according to the cafe workers, a Hungarian.

I am not very good as distinguishing the Europeans, but if you see anyone suspicious approaching you, please be alert. I hope this post is useful for you, and for people whom you know of. And feel free to share this story.

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