hello world !

my name is nisha, i'm half dutch and half thai. we go on vacation to thailand every summer to visit my family! after finishing my gap year, now im in utrecht university where i study language and culture studies. the courses i follow are religion, creative cities, and the chinese language.
i love to explore the world and experience the way the locals live in all different cultures. it's my biggest dream to visit every country in the world :)

my hobbies are scrapbooking, baking, cooking, postcrossing, going to the cinema, thrifting, being in nature, traveling and meeting new people. i also enjoy going to concerts, i’m a big fangirl! i have a few things that i collect which is postcards, stamps, banknotes, coins, and anything i can put in my scrapbook!
also i’ve been vegan since i was 12, im a huge foodie and share all my vegan food on instagram @veganishaa to show vegans eat more than only grass ;)

my favourite website besides couchsurfing is “postcrossing”! i love receiving postcards from all over the world and even met some local people during my travels whom i know through sending a postcard!
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the ultimate local guide to the beautiful city of utrecht !!!!!
made by nisha

my favvv food spots
- little world kitchen: freshly cooked food made with love, best place for brunch and such a lovely vibe
- za’atar: taste everything with the mezze!
- gys: organic food and nice place to study
- life’s a peach: the best pastel de nata!
- kluts: bakery with amazing cakes and a view on the dom church
- krishna villas: authentic indian food for decent price
- takumi tonkatsu: ramen spot immersing yourself right to japan
- de moestuin & de veldkeuken: organic cafe w local veggies
- vegan pizza bar: often on the app toogoodtogo for only 5€
- rose&vanilla: delicious gluten free raw pastries free of additives and their high tea is amazing

take away
- sla: in the mall, delicious bowls and 20% student discount
- have a roll: amazing cinnamon rolls
- stach: try their oatly soft serve!
- flfl: best falafel in town
- toko pedis: best indonesian food
- puur&loos: 100% packaging free supermarket, bring your own box and fill it with whatever you like!

fun cheap and alternative
- acu: squatters cafe, on sunday you can get a vegan meal based on donation, which is different every week and cooked by volunteers (the barricade) also unique events
- cafe averechts: also cooked by volunteers, on sunday/saturday evenings you can get a 3 course menu for 15€, which all is donated to charity and has a different unique cuisine every week
- bak: volunteered open kitchen every thursday, donation based
- cafca: hippie alternative spot for coffee, also a vintage store and sometimes cultural events

weekly activities
- student meditation weekly on thursdays: led by other student volunteers, this is open for everyone no matter your experience 5:15pm in marinus ruppert building
- free meditation at de werfeling; a crystal store in the city centre hosting weekly om meditation on saturdays 3-3:30pm

tips
- stadsschouwburg offers cheap last minute tickets for students when you buy them 24 hours before the show
- toogoodtogo (app): my faves are vegan pizza bar, lox bagels, veg nation, kadet, za’atar
- local market at vredenburg square on wednesday/friday/saturdays
- vegan student association: for only 15€ a year you can become a member and have discount at over 20 places for delicious food, they also organise lots of fun and lowkey activities and they’re very welcoming!
- wellbeing weeks organised by utrecht university twice a year, full of free activities focused on well being

my fav places
- local cinema (louis hartlooper, slachtstraat, springhaver): get the “cineville” card and you can go to the cinema unlimited times for only €19 a month
- the butterfly and tropical area in the botanical gardens
- spoorwegmuseum: really fun museum and even has a rollercoaster inside!
- duke of tokyo: take your friends here for a karaoke night
- walk along the catharijne singel between the pretty green path
- going for a walk in amelisweerd: enjoy the different seasons changing forest, then get some food at de veldkeuken/theehuis rhijnauwen/koetshuis cafe and pick up local veggies at tuinderij amelishof/nieuw slagmaat
- concert in tivoli
- night canoeing organised twice a year by buddy go dutch
- nijntje museum! kruideniersmuseum, museum speelklok
- t oude pothuys: live music in the cellar every night
- zeven steegjes & veeartsenijstraat

stores
- blackfish
- it all starts with a postcard
second hand store
- for cheap clothing or any other thrifting gems you can search on google maps “kringloop”. my faves are:
- rataplan (busstop nieuwegein, de liesbosch)
- de arm hoograven (this one is sooo big! but also has a branch at oudegracht)
- de waarde (10 min walking distance from central station)
- foundation books 4 life utrecht

open air cinemas in summer!
- cinema centraal
- pluk de nacht festival
- buitenbioscoop utrecht (rotsoord)
- rooftop pathe leidsche rijn
- brombios raum
- buitenbios de woonkamer noordertuin

swimming in summer!
- voorveldse polder
- jaagpad, kromme rijn in amelisweerd
- strijkviertelplas
- strandzone haarrijn
- maarsseveense plassen
- rietplas houten

seasonal events
- sinterklaas intocht (nov)
- ice skating inside the spoorwegmuseum
- utrecht pride in june with the boat parade in the canals
- gluren bij de buren: super fun and free festival where performances take place in people’s homes/garden, yearly in feb
- stukafest: similar performance festival in people’s homes but for students
- raum organizes cultural events/festivals on the open air berlijnplein (in leidsche rijn)
- queer culture festival (oct)
- festival trek, food truck festival (june)

cultural events in other cities worth travelling for
- nijntje/miffy meet & greet in keukenhof, yearly in april
- carnaval parade in maastricht (feb)
- leiden international film festival (oct)
- glow festival eindhoven (nov)
- diwali festival in amstelveen (nov)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

i've always been a huge traveller, i love exploring new countries and meeting new people! i'm so excited to create new big memories!

Interests

• animals
• books
• photography
• concerts
• cooking
• picnic
• baking
• vegan
• thrifting
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• backpacking
• hitchhiking
• art
• nature
• spirituality
• film
• queer
• museums
• postcrossing
• broadway
• penpals
• disney
• lgbtq

Music, Movies, and Books

music: taylor swift, noah kahan, gracie abrams, wild rivers, the 1975, lizzy mcalpine, lorde, conan gray, olivia rodrigo, ben platt, kacey musgraves, thai indie, disney, broadway

movies: y tu mama tambien, ferris bueller's day off, tangled, before sunrise, captain fantastic, mamma mia 2, moonrise kingdom, howls moving castle, the teacher who promised the sea

books: the secret history, aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe, heartstopper

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

hiking acatenango volcano
dyeing my hair pink and later shaving it all
going on my first solotrip to paris when i was 17
spent my whole london trip without a phone
visiting an elephant sanctuary in chiang mai
eating durian
being front row at a festival with more than 60.000 people
swimming in the sea at night with plankton all around
meeting finn wolfhard
made many internet friends and meeting them
jet skiing and kneeboarding
playing on car tire swings with the local kids in myanmar
riding the tractor with my grandpa on his farm
watched a thai kickbox competition
swimming in the river of le pont d'arc
hitchhiking in iceland
experiencing the eras tour 3 days in a row

What I Can Share with Hosts

vegan cooking, nice conversations, a great time, funny stories, a new friend! and hosting in return for when you visit the netherlands!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands