About a trip to Belgium and the food that goes with it.

So I did one of those trips again. As you may know, I live in South Africa. As you also may know, behind Addictlab is a Belgian company, with a Belgian office space. So from time to time, I need to fly in. The moments are selected based on emotion, ratio and above all... available budget.

Tuesday.
I arrived quite late, and my parents, sweet as they are, deliver a car to the airport, so that I can run around, drive on the wrong side of the road and get ticket fines. My parents can start a car pooling-bed & breakfast-restaurant kind of company, based only on my short visits.

I had decided to have an informal lunch with Imke and Jo from Imec: brought them some Amarula to thank them for the past years collaboration. We also discussed future projects.
# food: chinese duck, really good.

Rush to the Addictlab office, to prepare my two presentations for Wednesday. I end the day with a pretty nice diner at the Belga Queen in good company, discussing about addictlab activities, strategy, fashion and more.

Wednesday.
New business meeting in the Netherlands, near Eindhoven. And what a beautiful trip it is: all is white, and the orange sun comes up when I cross the border. This Dutch company produces African tissues for the West African market. They do have a shop in South Africa (at the Maponya mall), but their core business is in Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal etc.
Will this be a new client? Who knows. I presented all the projects and contacts I made in the SA fashion scene, but of course, I realise West Africa is different. I sincerely hope they see a lot in a collaboration, what would allow us to open up Addictlab activities and discover new talent in Western Africa aswell.

In the afternoon, I needed to be on the other side of Belgium, to deliver the project & concepts of our broomlab. A nervous trip through Belgium, with a healthy diet. (At least the water in the car is. The whole pack of Chocolate Mellow Cakes I swallowed in the process, is, well, ... proteines.)
How I enjoyed this meeting. The board of the company seemed pretty happy with all the ideas presented, and the fact that 3 concepts already will be tested to a consumer test audience next week shows we did have some possible winners. For some concepts, we will need some years of nano technology research.

Wednesday night, it's my fathers birthday, and we decide for a spontaneous diner in a restaurant in the neighbourhood. When living in Belgium, in 's Gravenwezel, you MUST try this. They call themselves a brasserie, what must be the most underrated underestimated statement of the century. How else can you describe a restaurant that brings a dish of 'Lotte' (fish) with parmesan crumble and spinach ice cream... The name of the restaurant escapes me, but contact me if interested.

Thursday.
You have those crazy days. My day starts at 9 in the Pain Quotidien in Brussels, discussing about Addictlab & TV formats. Then I rush to the Carestel in Ternat to talk about our plans for the upcoming Womenslab. (Launch of www.womenslab.org on March 8th, International Womens Day)
A quick lunch in Mechelen at the Nick Brasserie (scampi dish, very nice, to be honest, and the South African wine is very good) with possible future partners, then meeting with a publishing house. Need some thoughts on the concept of me writing a book.
Short trip to the Addictlab space, to prepare my lecture and then off to Vilvoorde,for my lecture on branding, innovation for an audience of Mars Alumni.
Looking at the comments I got, it seemed the audience appreciated my presentation and the addictlab way of thinking. Will the big player from Germany really fire his agency and tap into Addictlab?
# food: walking diner.


Friday.
A trip to Cologne, to check upon the construction and final delivery of the booth concept we generated for a chocolate client at the ISM fair. I kind of like these construction days: most of the thinking is done, it's now all about execution and following a strict plan to deliver the right thing on the right moment. Pretty hands-on.
# food: I ordered sandwiches and a pasta for our team in my best German. What actually is a pretty risky thing to do, looking at my German and the Pakistan takeaway's responses, but it turned out to be alright. Well, we can discuss about my pasta carbonara, though.
I leave back from Germany to Brussels, back to the office quite late, to do some paperwork.

Saturday.
Family time. Before the birthday brunch at my parents house, I defeat the prejudices and go shopping at the Wijnegem Shopping Center. (I do have a rich hands-on shopping mall experience here in South Africa..) Brunch with family is exactly how brunch with family must be: warm and enjoyable.
Before going to the airport to dash off to Zurich , I deposit a signed commercial agreement in a companies postbox. It nearly made me miss my flight, yet I really wonder if the agreement will allow Addictlab to start flying high. Later more on that.
When I finally sit in the plane to Joburg, I fall asleep before I finish my inboard movie. Happens to me all the time. I wonder why.