Beachclub Wow

Beachclub Wow isn't as well-thought out as some of the other beach clubs in Scheveningen. The white furniture is complimented with decorative umbrellas that look Thai, Indonesian or any other far East Asian country, but there isn't an all-persave Asian theme - although the menu has some Thai favourites. The walls are partly painted silver, but again - this doesn't fit any specific aesthetic that has been carried out throughout the entire beach club. Nor do the white leather chesterfields in which we sit down.

Before we enter Beachclub Wow, I ask the waiter whether it's open. It is, he tells me, although they're still cleaning. We tried another beach club before coming here, but there they were preparing for a wedding - one of the main sources of income for beach clubs in Scheveningen. The weather is quite bad and typical for a Dutch summer: wind and rain, although the temperature is pleasant enough. Despite that, I am glad the waiter turns on the gas fire on our table (a very typical thing at the Scheveningen beach clubs: tables with what looks like a woodfire in the middle that actually runs on gas). It fits the autumnal view of a windswept, rainy beach and wild, foaming sea, on which the couches, placed in front of the window, look out to. Rihanna Gaga is excited, because she will go and stay for two nights with my mother later today.

Beachclub Wow is one of those beach clubs more geared towards the nightlife, as the disco lights and large collection of speakerboxes show. However, the atmosphere is good this morning. First, they play that brilliant reggea pop hit from my youth, Inner Circle's "Sweat", which is followed by the kind of clubby minimal house that they play on beaches from Thailand to Scheveningen. Later, they switch to the acoustic soft rock that seems to be the sound of summer 2017 here at the Scheveningen beach clubs. We order the set breakfast for €9,50, which promises the standard croissant, scrambled eggs, slices of bread with cheese and ham and sweets such as sprinkles, jam and peanut butter. It's unimaginative but sufficient and comes with fresh orange juice. I also order a fresh mint tea and an apple juice for Rihanna Gaga.

I'm quite tired, which is strange because Rihanna Gaga only woke me up at eight o'clock. We kind of have a rule that she can only come to us after seven o'clock and for this purpose we taught her to read the clock. She doesn't always stick to that rule, and there are days on which she enters our room around half past six and refuses to go to sleep again. Sometimes she will return to her room, but will start singing so loudly that sleep won't be an option anymore. On other days, she will duly wait until seven o'clock and then run to our room to tell me I should come to her room and check the clock to confirm it's time to get up. So this morning's eight o'clock was quite luxurious. However, when she did come running into our room to tell me to come and check her clock, she woke me from a very deep sleep. So deep, in fact, that apparently I had been lying very uncomfortably, which led me to an aching shoulder. She started pulling my arm when I didn't rise quick enough and the rest of the morning was spent in a bit of a sleepy haze.

Breakfast is brought and Rihanna and I share the scrambled eggs, while I eat the rest. Rihanna Gaga claims the croissant too, but then can't be bothered to eat it. I've noticed before that these days, croissants (which used to be one of her favourite foodstuffs) are something she orders more out of habit than because she really feels like eating them. So I take that as well. I read a bit while Rihanna Gaga is enchanted  by the Tom & Jerry cartoons playing on one of the television screends in the beach club. She finds them quite funny, telling me about the 'naughty cat' doing all kinds of 'naughty things' such as beating, stabbing, shouting and kicking. That's one take on these cartoons, I guess, although I've always quite disliked the mouse too, who seems to be triggering the cat at all times, pushing his red buttons and getting on his nerves quite deliberately. Anyway, I like the comics in which they're friends better.

After breakfast is finished I have another tea while Rihanna Gaga continues to watch cartoons and I read some more.  We're still the only customers, while at a table behind us the waiter and other personal are having breakfast.
Then we leave. Rihanna Gaga insists on playing in Beachclub Wow's playground, a collection of small plastic houses and trampolines. The wind tugs at her hair and occasional raindrops are blown all around us. In the background is the roar of a wild sea, but Rihanna Gaga remains unfazed by all of this and jumps joyfully up and down on the trampoline until she needs to go to the loo and we return home.