El Niño Beach Club

It took me a long time this morning to convince Rihanna Gaga, Billie Stormzy's big sister, to go to the beach. She was keen on trying to get one of her friends to join us, and when that plan fell through because they were all off to birthday parties and swimming lessons, she was reluctant to do anything at all. The weather wasn't helping either. Since early morning, a drizzle was falling down on Scheveningen.

Around a quarter to ten, however, I finally managed to persuade her, luckily because the Sunday morning lethargy was becoming a bit too much. We were all lying on the couch, watching television and being bored and I was already getting fearful the entire day would pass like this. But then I convinced Rihanna Gaga that the time before her friends would return would pass quicker if she'd join us, and off we went on our bikes. Soon, we arrive at El Niño Beach Club

The first thing the waitress does when she comes to our table is compliment Rihanna Gaga on her onesie. And it is a cool onesie indeed: a pink, fluffy affair with giraffe print and a hoodie in the form of a giraffe's head. She then offers me to get a high chair for Billie Stormzy, but I decline because I know he will be struggling to get out the entire time he's in it. Then, she takes our orders. I take the American breakfast - I could say because it's a nice change from the regular breakfasts around here, but by now I think this is the third American breakfast I'm having, pretty much in a row, so it's not much change really. Apparantly this is a 'thing' around this part of the boulevard. I also take what is called a 'chai milkshake', because the thought of an Indian chai-flavoured milkshake certainly appeals to me. Rihanna Gaga takes water and 'poffertjes' - a typical Dutch dish that's basically tiny pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar and butter. 

Despite her moodiness earlier this morning, Rihanna Gaga is very chatty and cheerful now. She talks about school, her friends and her plans for the day. I make Billie Stormzy a bottle and start feeding him. Outside, the drizzle has turned into pouring rain and Rihanna Gaga tells me she's relieved we're inside. She leaves through some of the magazines that are lying on shelves next to our table and stops at a picture of a horse that she shows to me enthusiastically. She's been watching My Little Pony since she was five and this proved to be a gateway drug to more and more horse-centred television series on Netflix. Right now, she's really into the idea of horse riding and I've promised her to take her to a test class one of these days. I used to ride horses myself when I was a child and I remember loving it, so I'd certainly encourage her to do so. 

Billie Stormzy has finished his bottle and is very chatty now as well. It's very funny to see how he will talk with the same intonation and cadance of the actual sentences he hears around him - you really can have a conversation with him in this sense, although, of course, it is all just babbling. But he can put real conviction and seriousness into what he's saying. Our drinks are brought and Rihanna Gaga takes a sip from my milkshake. She tells me it's nice, but rather too spicy to her taste. It turns out she's referring to the generous amounts of cinnamon in the drink. I myself, however, love it. I've never had something like this, but it could become a real addiction. 

Billie Stormzy slides to the floor where he sits for a while, toying with a mug that he took with him this morning. It's a plastic Miffy mug that we gave to him to convince him to leave a glass mug he had gotten hold of and didn't want to let go of. It's a good thing he has this one now, as he is banging it enthusiastically on the floor, in between pretend-drinking from it. Then, he starts crawling around. Our table for two is next to some shelves, on the other side of which there is another table for two. This set-up is ideal for crawling around - everytime he rounds the corner, I can look surprised and say hello! And everytime, he's delighted by the effect of his sudden appearance. 

True to its name, El Niño has a Latin American flavour to its design, like a cantina: wooden tables, colourful lamps hanging from the ceiling. There's also an interesting collection of masks - I think African - hanging on the walls, all painted white. The result is a bit of a mishmash, but nicely so: especially cozy with the fires on, people lounging on the couches around them and some pleasant accoustic Latin songs on the soundsystem.

Breakfast is brought. After our plates have been put on the table, and the waitress is gone, I tell Rihanna Gaga she should actually say 'thank you' in such a situation. She nods and promises to do so from now on. The waitress had already warned me that they ran out of maple syrup, so she'd get me regular syrup instead, but apart from that this must be the better American breakfast around here. Three perfectly round, tasty pancakes, two slices of toast with bacon and eggs, a small bowl with fresh fruit and two muffins. Rihanna Gaga immediately claims one muffin and later she will also ask for one of the pancakes. She also finishes her poffertjes quickly, telling me they are very yummy. Billie Stormzy is quite interested in the fruit - consisting mainly of bits of different types of melon - and I feed him some water melon. He starts sucking on it, drooling copiously on my arms and hands, but later on he will push the bits out of his mouth again. He'll do the same with the pieces of fried egg I feed him, so I gather he's not very hungry right now.

He's getting restless again and slides to the floor once more. Rihanna Gaga, having finished her breakfast, follows him and takes his hands so that they can walk together. "Let's go dancing," she says and they move to the music. Brother and sister are incredibly cute together. I look around - El Niño is surprisingly busy for a rainy Sunday morning, mostly couples and groups of women out together - but noone seems bothered by the kids, so I let them enjoy themselves for a while. I love seeing them like this, so tuned to each other and just having a lot of fun. In the meantime, I finish my milkshake and pay. When we cycle back, Rihanna Gaga leaves us when we turn into the street where we live. She's on her way to her friend and won't be back until late in the afternoon.