Lifestyle

Fitch & Shui and the club sandwich from hell I’m not a religious man, but like many ex-Catholics, I still cling on to remnants of my faith. On a busy day in Amsterdam in between meetings, I decided to pop into Fitch & Shui and have a sandwich. Having an appreciation for …

The Butcher Social Club Amsterdam North. So near, yet so far away. David Bowie sang ‘is there life on Mars?’. I had similar thoughts about Amsterdam North. In fact, the Shallow Man hadn’t visited that part of the world for some time until on a cold December evening I took …

Bella Vista Amsterdam On a cold and rainy saturday evening, I was looking forward to a sumptuous meal in the warm bosom of one of my favorite Italian restaurants in Amsterdam, Bella Vista. Located in the chic Museum District of Amsterdam, not far from het concertgebouw in Amsterdam oud zuid (old south), …

The Shallow Man has in the past been accused of rarely leaving Amsterdam Zuid. To prove my critics wrong, I headed to the Utrechtsestraat to have a meal and some cocktails at Mystique.  Now there are some malicious types that have also attempted to accuse me of only eating in …

The Shallow Man once had a brief and pointless relationship in Amsterdam, with a lady who like the aftermath of eating drop, left a bitter taste in my mouth. In fact, the only good thing I can remember from our brief affair was that she introduced me to a cocktail bar …

Another place to meet singles in Amsterdam Whenever the Shallow Man sees a young Dutch Amsterdammer participating on reality shows and claiming that they can’t find a partner,  I know that this simply can’t be true. There are more single people in Amsterdam than badly dressed women with suspect hairstyles …

During my corporate days, one of my first deliverables as a newly appointed manager was to manage the process of letting go a team member that hadn’t been performing to expectations. I’d inherited this delightful task from my predecessor, who had sat down with the team member on a monthly …

Being naturally elegant, and so well dressed that I even take time to choose what I’m going to wear when visiting my local supermarket, the Shallow Man has often been mistaken for being gay. When this occurs, I usually take it as a compliment, due to the reputation gay men …

The Shallow Man, has lived in Amsterdam far too long to seriously consider himself an expat. I think that after ten years here, I consider myself to be pretty well integrated. I date Dutch girls. If I find a euro coin on the street, it puts me in a fantastic …

The Shallow Man has sometimes been compared to Superman, Samson and Achilles, all heroes to some, nuisances to others. The other thing they share in common with the Shallow Man is a fatal weakness. For Superman it was Kryptonite, for Samson, cutting a lock of his hair led to his …