Noblue,
I was in Ostend this past weekend, before taking the train into Bruges. We only had mode C. and the whole process was extremely straight forward, and I didn’t find it strict at all.
There are the supposed 4 mandatory VFR reporting points, but in reality as I was routing in from Konan to KOK they just told me to tell them when I was approaching the coast line, and then they just said follow the coast line up until you see the runway and then finally they gave me a choice if I wanted a left or right hand circuit. Couldn’t have been easier
Some man in a van turns up and takes you to your parking bay and then to customs
Enjoy your trip