Dear readers, It’s time for my annual summer holiday. I’ll be gone for the next two weeks so there will be no new posts until I return. I will reply to your emails and comments when I am back from my holiday. If you sent me an email within the last two weeks, I apologise for not replying sooner. Unfortunately work comes first and it has been quite a busy couple of weeks!
That’s all from me for now. See you in two weeks’ time. 
S has been gone for a week now and won’t be back home until Wednesday. While I’ve enjoyed having some time to myself and the freedom to work on a few projects, the loneliness is slowly getting to me. I never though I’d say this but I’m glad I have a full-time job and can interact with people on a daily basis as I would have gone mad if I didn’t have people to talk and laugh with. At least I have two wonderful feline companions to greet me when I get home..
Having said that, the loneliness is nothing compared to the feeling of helplessness I’ve felt every time I’ve had to go out and do something on my own, not to mention feeling like a complete moron every time I’ve hit a language barrier. A visit to my local Albert Heijn today turned sour after I misunderstood what the young lady at the kassa had asked me to do. It turned out that she had asked me to lift up the sign behind the conveyor belt to show that the kassa was closed but I only managed to catch half of what she had said and thought she meant that I should place one of those little dividers behind my batch of shopping. A stupid mistake, I admit, but I was deep in thought at the time and didn’t really expect her to ask me to do something.
S is away for the next week so I’m trying to keep myself busy with projects to distract myself from the fact he’s in Malaysia and I’m here. I decided to start a blog devoted to Asian cuisines and food culture, 慢慢吃 (màn màn chī). “Màn màn chī” is the Chinese equivalent of “Bon apétit” or “Enjoy your meal”.
The blog is still in its infancy so I’m open to any feedback or suggestions you may have.
I’m suffering from a minor bout of writer’s block so I thought I’d share an article I came across last night : 29 Ways to Increase Your Feeling of Self Worth. Let’s be honest, we all have our moments of self doubt or question what the point of anything is. Steven Aitchison’s article is full of useful little tips to help even the most self-conscious of us find meaning in what we do and give ourselves a much-needed boost of self-confidence.
Write down 7 minor goals for the week and tick one off each day as you achieve it.
Meeting goals is one way for us to feel better about ourselves. Even the most minor of achievements is an achievement so starting next week, I will start setting myself 7 little goals for the coming week. I’m not very good at achieving personal goals so achieving even just one goal on my list will be an accomplishment in itself!
Read a book a month. Reading a book is actually an achievement in this technology and media driven world and reading a full book is a great way to achieve a sense of accomplishment.
I didn’t realise that this was considered an achievement, being the bookworm that I am. In fact, my biggest worry is finding enough books to help me while away the time on my commute to and from work! I may hate commuting but it does give me the time to read. My partner lives a mere 15 minutes away from his workplace and often bemoans the fact that he never gets the chance to read a book so I consider myself quite lucky to have a decent commute (45 minutes).
Take a walk in the rain………..Why?………..because you have the power to decide!
Erm…I’d rather not. I spend enough time walking in the rain in this country out of sheer necessity without going out of my way to walk in it for fun. I’ll leave this to the people who get some sort of perverse pleasure from walking (and singing) in the rain. I’d rather stay warm and dry indoors, if that’s alright with you. 
Don’t read a newspaper for a week and gauge how you feel about yourself and the world around you.
I couldn’t agree more! The newspapers are full of nothing but doom and gloom these days. While I admit that I do like to know what’s happening in the world, I do notice that I feel more relaxed when I don’t read the daily newspapers or log on to the BBC News website. Swine flu, terrorism, plane crashes, it’s hard not to let your imagination run away with you when you’re confronted with stories of apocalyptic diseases and disasters at every turn. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss…
Well, I won’t go through all 29 items now so feel free to read the article for yourself and see if Steven’s advice can help make a difference in your life.
Today S and I attended the Japan Festival in Amstelveen, a weekend-long festival of Japanese events and activities which was being held in Amstelveen’s city centre. While the festival was a lot smaller than expected and didn’t really meet my expectations, it was still a fun day out. We were treated to martial arts displays, taiko drum performances (which were AMAZING) and we even managed to grab some sushi at a bar just outside the Amstelveen Library.
I’ve uploaded a few photos to my Flickr account. Click on the image below to view the gallery.
The festival continues tomorrow (Sunday 7th) but we probably won’t be attending as we felt one day was enough and don’t fancy driving all the way back to Amstelveen. If any of you want to treat yourselves to some sushi and meet sumo wrestlers, you will have the chance to do so tomorrow at Stadshart Amstelveen between 12pm and 5pm.
UPDATE – I also want to mention that I’ve added a Flickr widget to the menu on the right.
Some readers may have noticed that I’ve added a few links to blogs and websites about Gibraltar, my homeland. I have to admit that I have days when I still feel a little homesick and miss living in Gibraltar. It’s where I was born and where I spent most of my formative years so I guess it’s no surprise that part of me longs for the “good old days”. Even though I have lived abroad since I left for university in 1999, I’m still very much a Gibraltarian at heart and love going back to visit friends and family.
I’ve always wondered how other expats (or immigrants if you prefer) feel about their home countries and how that affects their lives in the Netherlands. While I’ve made the effort to learn Dutch and learn about Dutch customs and traditions, I still find myself checking the Gibraltar news websites everyday to keep up with what’s going on back home. Sometimes I’m more aware of what’s happening in Gibraltar than I am of events taking place in Almere! I have days when I tune in to Radio Gibraltar’s online stream or flick through photographs of places I used to visit on a regular basis just so that I have something familiar in my life.
What I find most surprising is how my opinion on my homeland and culture changed so much after I moved to the UK. It was only when I moved abroad that I realised how special Gibraltar really is and I began to take more pride in my identity as a Gibraltarian. Perhaps absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Nowadays, I don’t hesistate to tell people where I’m from, especially if they keep assuming I’m from the UK. While there’s nothing wrong with being from the UK, it’s not where I’m from and has a different culture to Gibraltar, something I only began to appreciate after I moved there. Gibraltarians are very proud of the fact that they’re British but these days I consider myself to be more Gibraltarian than British.
I have to wonder, though, if my reluctant patriotism is an obstacle for integration. My partner’s family have often told me that it’s important that I lay roots here and that I come to think of the Netherlands as home. But is it really that simple? Can one think of their new home country as their “home” or will one always consider their birthplace to be their “spiritual home”? At the moment, the Netherlands is merely the country where I live but I’ve yet to make a real connection with the place and feel genuinely “at home”. Perhaps this will change with time…
What are your thoughts of life as an expat? Do you still yearn for home or are you truly settled here?
I found a fun little meme from my old Livejournal account. I’m currently reading through all of my old posts and saving any that have any special significance. It’s interesting to see how my life has changed in the space of two years…
Here’s the Food Meme :
List 7 items related to food or drink you love, also list 7 items you hate the most. Then tag 7 buddies and find out if your stomachs have something in common. Bon appetite!
Likes :
1 – Sushi & sashimi (especially salmon sashimi and octopus sushi)
2 – Mapo dofu
3 – Pork and leek dumplings
4 – Parma and serrano ham (yummy!)
5 – Miso soup
6 – Poffertjes (freshly-made, not the microwaveable ones you can get at the AH)
7 – Cherry cola
Dislikes :
1 - Brussel sprouts
2 - Rabbit (I prefer them alive and kicking)
3 - Hard-boiled eggs
4 – Rookworst (and most other types of worst you can get here)
5 – Bubble tea (I had this once in Taiwan and never again)
6 – Blue cheeses (the smell puts me off)
7 – Tripe, liver, and offal of any kind
Tagging :
1 – A Touch of Dutch
2 - Dutchistan
3 – Petty Pieces
4 - Canadutch
5 - Random Walks in the Low Countries
6 - A Canadian in Clogs
7 – Reasons Not to Blog
Completing the meme is not compulsory but if you’ve been tagged do decide to fill out this meme, feel free to leave me a link to your lists of favourite and least favourite foods.
Readers in the Netherlands may be interested to know that there will be a Japan Festival in Amstelveen next weekend. The festival will be held on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th June, 2009, at the Stadshart Amstelveen shopping centre and will include a range of activities for the whole family to enjoy, including taiko drum performances, martial arts displays, a Nintendo Wii tournament, a karaoke contest and an attempt to break the world records for the longest sushi bar and sushi roll. Other activities and workshops will be held in Amstelveen’s Stadsplein. Anyone who wants to learn the art of origami or how to play Go will have the chance to do so next weekend. There will also be a tea ceremony at the Cobra Museum.
More information can be found at the Stadshart Amstelveen’s website (only available in Dutch).
* Cross-posted from my language learning blog, Aspiring Polyglot.
I was planning on posting a review of the film Angels and Demons but I’m quite tired after a very unrestful night last night. We were hit by a thunderstorm last night – quite a big one, in fact – and the constant crash of thunder and flashes of lightning kept me from falling (and staying) asleep. Meteorologists recorded an estimated 200,000 bolts of lightning across the country and blikseminslagen (lightning strikes) caused havok for commuters on the motorways and spoorwegen (railways). My train was a little delayed but many others turned up at stations across the country to find their trains had been cancelled or severely delayed.
I have to say that this was possibly one of the worst storms I’ve ever experienced. I’m surprised our windows and car were still intact this morning as they were pelted with hailstones on more than one occasion last night. The lightning was spectacular but it kept me awake for most of the night. My cats, Rico and Juno, were less impressed with Mother Nature’s shock and awe tactics and spent much of the night hiding under our bed.
Here’s to a good night’s rest tonight!
Today was Hemelvaartsdag (Ascension Day) so, like many others, I had the day off and decided to spend some quality time with my partner in Amsterdam. We almost decided to stay home as it was cold and cloudy when we woke up but we’re very glad we decided to make the effort to take the train into Amsterdam as it got warmer and sunnier as the day progressed.
After a quick stop at the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam (Amsterdam Public Library) to drop off some books, we made our way through the crowds to Zeedijk to visit Henk’s Comics and Manga Store (a great place for anyone who likes collecting action figures and manga) before going on to tackle a very busy Kalverstraat. We stopped by Waterstones to have a look at the magazines and new books and then headed to Selexyz to discover that it was one of the few stores in Amsterdam that was actually closed. 
I soon got over my initial disappointment and we decided to backtrack a little and visit the Athenaeum Bookstore on Spui. It’s a relatively small bookshop but is jam-packed with books on social sciences, languages and history. It also has a section devoted to the classics so Latin lovers and Greek enthusiasts should include a visit to this bookstore when they visit Amsterdam. I came across a bilingual copy of Jip en Janneke in Dutch and Latin (I was quite tempted to buy it) and searched in vain for an English-language book for learning Latin. I was also impressed to see Latin and Ancient Greek translations of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and would have bought a copy of the Latin translation if it hadn’t been so expensive. In the end, I ended up buying two books on Japanese culture and history : Everyday Life in Traditional Japan by Charles J. Dunn and Shutting Out the Sun : How Japan Created its Own Lost Generation by Michael Zielenziger. I will post reviews of these books once I have finished reading them.
After that, we headed down to the Leidseplein, stopping at a nearby icecream store to buy a slush each, and then joined the crowd to watch a street performer juggle with fire batons. We ended our day out in Amsterdam with a meal at Wagamama, a fusion restaurant on the Maxeuweplein. It’s one of our favourite restaurants in the city and we’re slowly working our way through the menu by trying a different dish each time we visit. Today, I chose Ebi Chilli Men (prawns, vegetables and noodles in a tomato-based chilli sauce) with a side order of gyoza (fried dumplings), while S settled for the Teriyaki Beef Soba and two side orders of gyoza. Delicious food but not a particularly peaceful meal together thanks to a family sitting next to us, whose kids decided the restaurant was a perfect place to run around screaming and swinging on the barriers that the staff had placed between the tables and queueing area. A couple sitting on the table opposite us couldn’t help commenting on the boisterous kids and wondering why their parents couldn’t keep them under control. My thoughts exactly…
S and I both have the day off tomorrow as our companies decided to be very generous to their employees and made tomorrow a “bridge day”. We haven’t made any plans yet but a shopping trip to Hilversum is a possibility. The gemeente is always trying to promote Almere as a haven for shoppers but Hilversum’s city centre, independent shops and terrasjes win me over every time.
Doe Maar Gewoon has received its first blog award! I received the Great Expat Blog award from Isabella, author of the A Touch of Dutch blog. I thought it was very sweet of her to give me an award, especially as I’ve being useless at updating this blog over the past few months…something I hope to remedy over the coming months.
Isabella gave me a nifty little award image to display on my blog (you can see it to your left and in the newly-created Awards page in the header menu) and asked me to complete this little meme which lists 7 things about me which are awesome. I really, really struggled to find 7 things…
Rules: List seven things about yourself that are awe-sum, then send this to seven other bloggers who you think are awe-sum.
1) I have lived in China and Taiwan and can speak Mandarin Chinese (albeit badly).
2) I’m not the best cook but I enjoy trying out new recipes and am particularly fond of Thai, Chinese and Japanese food.
3) I managed to learn Dutch without taking a single class. I may not be fluent and am terrible with Dutch grammar but I can read newspapers and books without a dictionary and never have to switch to English when I visit the doctor or dentist.
4) I met my partner via a Star Trek chatroom (this isn’t so much awesome as it is nerdy) and we’ve been together for 7 years and counting.
5) I’ve been to a real sushi bar in Kyoto and even had a brief conversation in Japanese with the head chef. I guess I”m not the only person who has learnt Japanese and chatted with a sushi chef but as person who lacks self-confidence, it was a major feat.
6) I can read books and newspapers written in Chinese (simplified and traditional), Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch…and English. If only I could speak all of those languages as well as I can read them…
7) I have two fabulous cats which make me smile and laugh every day. Maybe they should be awarded an “Awe-sum Award” for the joy they bring us.
I’m not sure which 7 bloggers to nominate for the “Awe-sum” award as many of the ones I follow have already received the award…
Isabella, author of the A Touch of Dutch blog, recently posted a “Before and After Meme” on her blog and invited other bloggers to write about their thoughts and experiences of living in the Netherlands. I was bored so here are my answers.
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Before you knew you’d be coming to the Netherlands, for whatever reason you originally came to the Netherlands, truthfully how much did you know about the country?
I only knew the bare basics and the usual stereotypes : windmills, clogs, low lying land, cheese, and Van Gogh.
Did you learn about the Netherlands in school when you were growing up?
Not that I can remember. Most of what I learnt about the Netherlands was from reading books in my own time.
Do you have family who is Dutch or Dutch heritage?
Not to my knowledge. Most of my immediate family are/were from Ireland, the UK, Spain and Gibraltar.
Were you aware the language the Dutch spoke was Dutch and not German or any other language?
Yes, although I didn’t even know the basics before I met my partner. I knew it was related to German and English but I had never heard spoken Dutch prior to my first visit to the country in 2002.
Had you ever lived outside of your home country for longer than one month prior to living in the Netherlands?
Yes. I lived in the UK for several years during my university studies (I’m originally from Gibraltar), in China for a year and in Taiwan for just under a year.
Had you learned to speak any other language than your own, even if only partially so, before coming to the Netherlands?
Yes. I had a bilingual upbringing (English and Spanish), learnt French at school and studied Mandarin Chinese at university, so I’m no stranger to language learning.
When you learned you’d be coming to the Netherlands, did you feel it was important to learn Dutch?.
I knew it would be important but I wasn’t very enthusiastic about it at first as I didn’t like the sound of Dutch and wasn’t very keen on the look of written Dutch. Once I moved here, I realised I’d have to learn Dutch if I wanted to make my life a little easier, especially since my partner’s parents didn’t speak one word of English.
Did anyone prepare you with information of any type before you came to live in the Netherlands, did you attempt to find information on your own, or did you come to the Netherlands without preparing?
I had visited the country several times before I moved here so I was more or less prepared for my move…or so I thought. Coming here for a holiday and living here are two completely different things. Reading books such as “The Undutchables” was some help and I tried to learn as much about Dutch customs and traditions before I moved here. Having said that, I feel that no amount of preparation and background reading can prepare you for the reality of living here!
How did your friends and family react when they learned you’d be moving to the Netherlands?
They had mixed feelings. I’m an only child so my mum was sad to see me go but she also felt that the Netherlands was a nice country to live in and that I would have better career opportunities here than I would back in Gibraltar (something I have my doubts about). My friends asked if I was going to live in a windmill… :p
What did you think would be your biggest challenge living in a foreign country? Or did you feel you would face any big challenges?
I thought my biggest challenge would be adjusting to yet another different culture and learning the language, especially as I was less than enthusiastic about spending my time learning Dutch. I was also worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a job as my Dutch was non-existent.
Upon arriving, can you remember the overall impression you had in the first 48 hours?
My overall impression was quite negative. I moved to the Netherlands on Gibraltar’s National Day so I was a bit upset that I wouldn’t be able to celebrate with my friends and family. The weather wasn’t very good either and I was very uncertain about the future, whether I would like working and living here, whether I would be able to make new friends and carve out a new life for myself.
Tell me about your bicycle, if you have one. Is it borrowed/rented or do you own it? And how often do you use it weekly? Have you ever had your bike stolen? Feel free to mention and elaborate about anything special concerning experiences you have/had with your bicycle.
Erm…I don’t actually own a bicycle. I’ve been meaning to buy one for a while but I never seem to get around to it!
Name three of your favorite things about the Dutch culture which first come to mind:
1) The work-life balance – The Dutch seem to have a healthier work-life balance than most other Europeans. They often work hard while at work but they also make sure that they can spend some quality time with their families. After working long hours in the UK and Taiwan, I can certainly appreciate this, even though I still have to work a 40-hour week.
2) The close relationship with nature – I like how you can always find a park in almost any city and how you only have to travel a very short distance to reach the countryside or the seaside. The Dutch seem to enjoy their green surroundings and I can see the appeal…though I do draw the line at camping. I don’t like nature THAT much!
3) The free newspapers on the trains – This might not be a cultural thing but I like the fact that there are several free newspapers at every major train station. My Dutch has improved exponentially ever since I started reading newspapers on the train, something I rarely did in other countries.
Of the things you never knew before coming here, what have you learned about the Netherlands?
I have learnt that gezelligheid is very important to the average Dutch person and that Dutch men are much more family-oriented than in Gibraltar and the UK (this is a generalisation as I know plenty of people back home who place family before anything else).
Culture shock. Does this ring a bell?
Unfortunately, it does. I suffered from terrible culture shock and homesickness during my first few months here. While I feel much more at home these days, I still get a little annoyed by people who insist on pushing their way on to the train before people have disembarked. This happens in other countries but it was a huge shock after living in the UK and Gibraltar, where people queue and don’t tend to push others aside quite so much. And then there’s “gezelligheid”. My idea of gezelligheid is quite different to what many Dutch consider “gezellig” and I feel that people tend to make remarks about how gezellig it is when the party (or other social event) is dull.
How far have you come with learning Dutch?
I think I’ve come quite a long way in the past 2 and a half years. While I still make some silly grammar mistakes and occasionally have trouble expressing myself, I am able to use Dutch in most everyday situations, including visits to the doctor or dentist. I haven’t enrolled in any courses so I’m quite proud of the fact that I learnt how to speak and understand Dutch simply by listening to people and through self-study. Having said that, I wish my writing skills were a bit better and that I could understand strong accents (I have trouble with Limburgs and strong Amsterdam accents).
What was/is your overall impression of the inburgering [integration] program?
As an EU citizen, I haven’t been subjected to the inburgering program. I’ve heard about it from other friends and colleagues and I am SO glad I don’t have to attend those classes. I think I would hate the country and its people if I was forced to learn the language and adopt Dutch customs. I prefer to learn the language at my own pace and do my own background reading on Dutch customs and history.
Has your view on politics or world issues changed from how you previously viewed things before living in the Netherlands?
Not really. My views remain the same, although I am less interested in the local politics here than I was back home.
Coffeeshops and smartshops. What is your opinion? Have you ever visited a coffeeshop or smartshop? You don’t need to go too far in detail, if you feel it’s too revealing on your own blog.
I’ve never visited a coffeeshop and don’t intend to. I don’t have anything against people who visit those places and feel it’s their own choice. I don’t agree with drug use but, again, each to their own. Everyone has their vice (mine is the internet and fizzy drinks). I don’t know what a smartshop is. I’ll have to run a Google search to enlighten my naive mind.
Since living here, have you learned anything new about yourself? Or perhaps have you learned anything else new? A new hobby or a new way of life?
Erm, well, I’ve learnt that commuting to work every day isn’t as bad as I imagined it would be. After all, it’s a perfect time to read or listen to music. The biggest change to my life was to adopt two wonderful cats. I didn’t have any pets when I was growing up so this has certainly been a learning experience! As for hobbies, I have learnt how to cook properly (though I am by no means a master chef!) and I have plans to take up rollerblading again…once I find some adult skates which fit me.
It has been *months* since I last posted anything on this blog. I thought it was time to resurrect this blog, although part of me has no idea where to start. I’ll keep today’s post simple and just list some of the things I’ve been up to in the past few months.
That’s all from me for now. I need to get back into the swing of blogging…
Once again, I apologise for the lack of updates lately. Between work, home, caring for two cats (and a boyfriend!) and writing posts for my language learning blog Aspiring Polyglot, I seem to have little time left over for updating this blog. Truth be told, I haven’t had anything really exciting happening…nothing worth blogging about, anyway.
One thing that I really feel like ranting on for hours about (but won’t) is the very obvious decline in quality service provided by the NS. In the past few weeks, I’ve had at least one cancellation and/or major delay getting to work every week. About two weeks ago, there was a broken-down train on the track between Almere Centrum and Weesp. This caused major disruptions to the services between here and my work (I get off at Amsterdam Lelylaan) and I turned up at work over an hour late, after doing a scenic tour of Weesp and Schiphol.
I also had trouble getting to work today for reasons I’m still not sure about. My usual train from Almere was cancelled (no explanations given or alternative routes suggested). Onze excuses voor het ongemaak… I managed to take the stoptrein to Amsterdam Centraal, only to find that there were fewer services running between Centraal and Lelylaan. Eventually a service became available and I ended up at work only 45 minutes late. At least I can console myself with the thought that I wasn’t the only one who was affected by the NS’s rapidly-declining service. Same story on the way home. A 45-minute commute turned into nearly two hours of standing around on cold platforms, hoping for an announcement that would make my trip home a little bit easier.
With all these delays and cancellations, I really wonder how the NS could have the gall to raise the ticket prices once more…
But enough about the trains. S and I have tickets to go and see the Umbilical Brothers at the Comedy Theater in Amsterdam on Saturday. The Umbilical Brothers are a fantastic Australian comedy duo. If you don’t get the chance to see them live, do check out Youtube for their shows as they’re really worth a watch.
That’s all from me for now. I’ll be giving this blog a little makeover over the next few days (weeks?) so stay tuned.
A few days late but I want to wish all of my readers a happy New Year. Here’s hoping 2009 is a better year than 2008 was! 2008 was full of ups and downs for me and S. We lost 4 family members and had a few setbacks but we also managed to move into our new home, visit some interesting new places and adopt two lovely cats.
Christmas and New Year were both much better than last year (I lost my granny to cancer on the 28th December 2007) so I tried to make the most of this holiday season and enjoyed some quality time with my mother and S. My mother was here for the entire Christmas break and we had a great time together shopping, visiting Hilversum and Amsterdam, and even going to the Holiday on Ice show with S’s family, which was held at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht.
2009 has been a fairly good year so far, albeit a very chilly one (I can’t believe it’s going to drop below -10C tomorrow night!). Going back to work after almost two weeks’ vacation has gone surprisingly smoothly this time and I’m determined to approach the new year with more confidence and positivity. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions but there are a few things I would like to accomplish this year :
That’s all from me for now. It’s approaching 23:30 and I have to be up again at 06:30 (the joys of working). Let’s hope the Big Freeze doesn’t wreak havok with the NS..
Our living room is finally looking festive! We bought our Christmas tree today from our local Kwantum as none of the other big stores had any plastic trees left (at least not ones for under 70 euro). We decided a real tree would not be a good idea seeing that we have two cats and hate cleaning so we settled for a nice-looking plastic tree. We were quite lucky, actually, as the one we bought was part of the display and had been set aside for another couple, but since they never came back for it, the store assistant let us have it…and gave us a 20 euro discount!
We’ve gone for a red theme this year so we bought a pack of red baubles and tinsel as a start. We don’t have many other decorations yet and want to give the tree a bit more colour so we’ll be buying some more things next week including a nativity scene, if we can find a nice one (the ones I’ve seen so far were a bit kitsch).
I took a picture of the tree. It’s not finished yet as we still need to buy a few more things but I think it doesn’t look too shabby. The lights don’t look very bright in this photo for some reason…
Well, I’m off to the kitchen to make red curry noodle soup.
I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last update! Before I know it, it’ll be Christmas again…
It’s been quite a busy month so I guess it’s hardly surprising that I haven’t found the time to write a decent entry. I should really be working on an essay I need to write for a course I’m doing (South Asian Archaeology) but procrastination is my middle name…
Paris in the Autumn :
S and I spent a wonderful 3 days in the French capital, though it would have been more wonderful if I hadn’t been full of cold. I decided not to have a birthday party this year so I treated myself and S to a nice weekend getaway in Paris instead. We went by plane as we couldn’t find good tickets for the Thalys and was amazed that it takes just as long to get from Amsterdam to Paris by air as it does for me to get from home to work (not counting
check-in times, of course).
We stayed at the Hotel Lyon-Bastille, which was walking distance from the Gare du Nord. The hotel rooms were a little small but the location was ideal and the staff were quite friendly. I wasn’t feeling too well on our first day there and had to let S do all the talking as I didn’t have a voice left by the end of the morning. I’m still quite annoyed that I wasn’t able to put my long-forgotten French to good use. :p
Despite a fever and the rainy weather, we had a great time walking along the Champs d’Elysees, gazing down at the city from the second ‘floor’ of the Eiffel Tower, marvelling at the beautiful architecture of Notre-Dame cathedral and taking a leisurely stroll through the Place de la Concorde.
The next day, we made our way to Disneyland. Boy was it busy! There were thousands of people there so getting around the park and getting on the rides was a real challenge (there was a 2-hour wait for the Space Mountain and Indiana Jones rides!). The last time I visited Disneyland, it was during the week so it was a lot less busy. This time, it was just utter chaos! Nevertheless, it was a fun day out and it was lovely to see the park in its winter mode. There were Christmas trees and decorations everywhere and we were treated to a Christmas parade. S and I would love to go back there again as we missed out on a lot of the attractions and would also like to visit the Studios park. An overnight stay would probably be the best idea, though we will definately make sure to make a booking outside of the peak season.
On our third and final day there, we spent a few hours wandering around the Louvre, marvelling at the treasures within and trying not to imagine albino assassins running around. S felt a little disap
pointed when he saw the Mona Lisa. I visited the Louvre when I was a kid so I knew what to expect. For a painting with such a high reputation, it really is quite small and quite insignificant artistically speaking (I prefer Delacroix’s painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’, personally). My favourite galleries are the ones devoted to Roman, Greek and Egyptian antiquities so we spent quite some time amongst the Cupids, Athenas and mummies.
After a few hours, we both felt that we had had enough of statues and paintings so we made our way to Pont de l’Alma, where we boarded a bateau mouche and took a tour down the river Seine. I really recommend these tours to anyone going to Paris as you get to see a lot of the sights without having to jump from metro station to metro station.
And shortly after our tour, we headed back to the hotel, collected our suitcase and made our way back to Charles de Gaulle Airport. A short but memorable stay in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. We hope to go back again soon.
Kitty Cat Update :
It’s been a few weeks since we adopted our two cats, Rico and Juno, and I’m happy to say that they’ve settled in very nicely and are a lot more comfortable around us. Juno is always following me into the kitchen and enjoys playing hide and seek around the house, while Rico enjoys rolling around on the ground and nibbling on S’s toes!
S has been away on business this past week so it’s been nice having two cats to keep me company.
A Missed Concert and a New Friend :
Last Saturday, S and I were supposed to attend a concert in Amsterdam that my boss was selling tickets for. The concert was a classical music concert with all proceeds going to a maternity ward in Malawi but thanks to a derailment near Amsterdam Muiderpoort, there were no trains between Almere and Amsterdam Centraal. We tried going via Weesp, only to find out that we couldn’t get a connecting train from there to Amsterdam Centraal and we were advised to go to Schiphol and then get a train there to Amsterdam Centraal.
By the time we got to Spui, we were almost an hour late and decided to just cut our losses and have a nice evening out in the city. Along the way to Max Euwerplein, we came across a lost Serbian tourist who was having trouble finding her hotel. We offered to help her find her hotel since we had nothing else to do and know how it feels to be lost tourists ourselves. The hotel was in the Leidsekruisstraat, a road that neither of us recognised so we wandered about, consulting the maps at a nearby tram stop, and we eventually found the road and hotel.
Walking around the city gave us a chance to get to know the lady, Jasmina, who has travelled all over the world and, like me, has studied Chinese and is fond of East Asian food and culture. She was quite tired after a day of travelling so we said our goodbyes and exchanged email addresses (we’ve already emailed each other since then). At least we will have someone to help us out if we ever get lost in Belgrade.
After leaving Jasmina, we continued to Max Euwerplein and had a nice relaxing supper at Wagamama. The food there is always delicious, even if it isn’t really a Japanese restaurant. The gyoza are very yummy and the ebi kare lomen was as tasty as I remembered. It’s a shame we don’t have a branch in Almere…
I’ve had a mixed day travelling with the NS today. My train to work had a 20-minute delay so I got to work a little later than usual. Standing around in the chilly mist was not the best way to start the week.
The way home went much more smoothly and I was treated to one of the best announcements I’ve ever heard on the Hoofddorp-Amsterdam Centraal Intercity train : ”The next stop is Amsterdam Centraal. Beware of the pick-pockets. We have the best pick-pockets in the world here in Amsterdam”.
S and I are going to devote some time this weekend to some DIY. We have a new Ikea wardrobe to put together for our spare room/study (to store away most of our junk) and we have some new roller blinds to hang up in our bedroom. I’m not very DIY savvy so S will be doing the bulk of the work.
The cats are doing well. They’re certainly a lot more relaxed and comfortable now after almost two weeks of living with us. Juno and Rico seem quite happy and love to play. They really love playing with a ball of aluminium foil (even though we also have a proper ball they can play with) and they really enjoy playing hide-and-seek around the house. Juno is the more adventurous of the two (she’s also the youngest) and her curiosity knows no bonds. One of her favourite activities is to sit by the large glass door we have and watch the birds in our back garden.
I’m off for now. I’ll let you know how the DIY goes.
I think we can safely say that winter is most definately on its way! The last few days have been quite chilly and this morning S and I spent a few minutes scraping off the frost from the car windows this morning before we could set off for work. Was it this cold last October?
This year has been an odd year as far as weather goes. A relatively mild winter, snow at Easter, no summer to speak of and now a rather short autumn. The cold weather and the fact that it’s pitch-black by 6pm really makes you want to curl up on the sofa under a warm fleece blanket….not that that’s a bad thing.
Today has been a so-so day. Work was alright, except for a few minor annoyances, and our canteen served a surprisingly tasty surinaamse kip met rijst en groenten for lunch (the quality at our canteen ranges from hartstikke lekker!’to ‘Boy, I wish I’d brought my own lunch today’).
The commute home was a little less pleasant. I ended up with the loudest people on the whole train sat next to me. I tried to drown them out by turning up the volume on my MP3 player but to no avail. I did somehow manage to hear the NS staff making a few mistakes over the PA system. They announced that the next stop would be Weesp, which would have been odd given that that particular train never stops there, and the two conducteurs couldn’t decide on what the real next stop actually was. One announced ‘Almere Buiten’ and a few seconds later, his colleague announced that it was in fact Almere Centrum. Hmmm… I wonder if they ever worked for TomTom.
The bus ride home was no better. Someone in front was munching away on some frites (not the nicest smell when you’re cramped into a rush-hour bus) and one guy opposite me decided to treat the passengers to some rap music at full volume. And the piece de resistence, I almost cracked my head open when I got up from my seat. The ‘roof’(for lack of a better word) was much lower than I expected and someone at Connexxion thought it might be a great idea to make it feel even lower by sticking an ad board there. Oh well…I guess the lady behind me enjoyed it as she couldn’t contain her laughter. Perhaps it’ll turn up on YouTube.
On a more positive note, the cats are doing fine and are really settling down in their new home. I’ve just discovered that a lot of fun can be had with a simple ball of aluminium foil.
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