18/11/2007 (Sunday)- Welkom To NetherlandsI arrived in the Netherlands on sunday nite. Patricia and Kimberly came to pick me up from the airport. Steph couldn't come as she was home doing her homework. The first thing that struck me on how expensive Europe was is the cost of parking. Gee ... they were just at the airport for a short while and it cost them 9 euros. I kind of felt bad about it.
Steph gave me a nice big hug when i reached their place. It's about 45 mins drive away from Amsterdam. Wow .. i love their home which would be my home for 9 days. I wish my own home in the future would be as nice and cozy as theirs.
Their house is very unique looking and resembles a match-box.
19/11/2007 (Monday) - Leiden John just came back from Singapore this morning. He was there to attend some meetings and met up with mom & dad and my bro, one of his best IT-gadget shopping kaki. In a way, he made it back in time for me who came here all the way to Holland to visit and spend time with the Voon Family.
We went to a Dutch PanCake House at a nature park for lunch.
Nice … my first meal in Holland and I get to try their local food. It was good. We ordered bacon and cheese pancake.
This afternoon, John & Patricia took me to Leiden, a city which is famous for its many universities. On the way, i saw several windmills and it was pretty exciting. I mean I have read about it, seen pictures on it but have not seen it personally.
The town is intersected by many small canals and I thought to myself, this is really true. Netherlands is really full of canals. Even John & Patricia has a canal running at the back of their house.
I was planning to take a trip to Paris but the timing seems bad. The rail-strike was on-going. John and Patricia said they will take me to Germany during the weekend. Cool! I’ve not been to Germany. But still, I am a little disappointed that I am not going to Paris. But well, it may be a little boring going to Paris alone though.
20/11/2007 (Tueday) - Den Haag I went to Den Haag today to shop around and also realised that it is also called ‘The Hague’. I kind of got confused with the pronounciation. Is it called ‘Den Hark’ or ‘Den Hake’? Checked with Stephanie and she told me that it’s pronounced as ‘Den Hark’.
It’s the third largest city in the Netherlands and home of the Royal Family. With more than 80 international organisations, including a number of world-renowned courts and tribunals, The Hague has earned its reputation as the City of Peace, Justice and Security. There are heaps of people here and it’s a busy and buzzling city. I spotted some of my favourite stores like Zara, Mango and H & M there.
Before heading to Den Haag, we stopped by the post-office at her neighbourhood.
They had several interesting stalls there such as the shop selling various types of cheese. I can't resist but took some pictures of it.
And this is really cute. I saw this on the way to the carpark.
And nor forgetting this pastry/ bread shop which Patricia usually buy her bread and pies from. It is really yummy.
This evening, John came home only to realise that someone had parked in his drive-way. I can’t believe it that he actually called the police and parked his mini-copper in front of that car. We had dinner and when he went to peek out of the window, the driver of that car had just managed to drive his car out. John managed to speak to the driver in time but it was like cat and dog. The driver spoke in Dutch and John spoke in English. Oh what about the police? Well, they never came. They only called back. We reckon that the police had called the driver by checking the information based on his car-plate number.
We continued our dinner and Stephanie commented that I should come more often. It’s when I am here that such interesting things happened.
21/11/2007 (Wednesday)- Van Gogh Museum The weather looks gloomy, as if it has just rained. Today, I am heading to Amsterdam to visit the Van Gogh Musuem. It took us a long time to reach the musuem due to the traffic jam.
We passed by the famous Rijksmusuem, the magnificent national musuem of the Netherlands which possesses nearly seven million works of art of which only a fraction of which is on display. Unfortunatedly, i did not have the time to visit. But it's good enough to see how the musuem looks that from the exterior.
The Van Gogh Musuem
The museum contains the largest collection of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh in the world. It keeps track of the artist’s developments and also holds an extensive offer of exhibitions on various subjects from the 19th century art history. Patricia seems to enjoy herself at the museum and marvelled at the various paintings. I later discovered that when she told me she loved painting since young, she really meant it. She is still taking art lessons and just had one of her ‘works’ on exhibit before I came. The visit to the museum was good but i personally enjoyed the British Museum and National Gallery in London more.
On the way home, the sun is setting. Just trying my luck on the shots.
Dinner was great. We had grilled chicken, baked potato and vegetables for dinner. I had to tell Mom that Patricia is a very good cook.
I also managed to watch a couple of old movies such as Sister Act, Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing and Fantastic Four with the two girls these few days. They are also currently watching Mash, the 1970s comedy drama series which lasted 11 years with 251episodes made and won countless awards.
My stay with the Voon Family these few days have also given me an insight of the role of an expat’s wife, the role of parents to two teenagers and what it is to be husband and wife too.
To come to think of it, free lessons in life perhaps?
22/11/2007 (Thursday) - Delft The weather today is really nice. Not as gloomy as yesterday. It looks bright and sunny. Patricia brought me to Delft, a very charming and relaxed town and is famous for its blue-and-white pottery.
There are many small shops selling a variety of interesting things. I tried Patat which is really yummy.
It’s actually French Fries put in a cone and eaten with mayonnaise. But I still don’t understand … why can’t they just call it French fries and secondly, why is it so popular?
After walking around town, we stopped by a small café for drinks and i tried another dutch dish called Poffertjies.
It resembles very small pancakes and are traditionally served with lots of powdered sugar sprinkled on top. We ordered the ones that has strawberry toppings on it. Looking at the picture on the menu, I thought Poffertjies were eaten as dessert but I was wrong. It’s for main. What a way to spend the afternoon.
I got home around 4.15pm and since the sky has not turned dark, I took a walk around the neighbourhood alone. There were canals everywhere.
The big canal next to their place.
The view of John & Pat's house taken during the walk. This is the front view.
And this is the back view.
Look what i found?
Houses around the neighbourhood.
Some kids were also out playing with their neighbours while others were cycling around the neighbourhood. I also saw an old man who lives just across the road fishing at the back of his yard. I wonder if there were any fishes at all. There were also little duckings and swans swimming around the small canals. Interesting! But I am feeling really cold when I got home. I think my clothes ain’t warm enough and am shivering. When I came home to tell the girls about the swans and ducklings, they told me that they were quite a pest actually. Ha ha!
Steph just came home from school. She was practising the piano and she played it really well. It was nice to have the whole house filled with nice piano pieces.
This evening, I had shepherd’s pie, salad with tomato and pine nuts and bread for dinner. The food is really good. The salad reminds me of Cheryl though.
Kimberly also showed me some of pieces of her exam pieces of art work. One of which resembles a Van Gogh piece. I never knew Kim has a passion in art and excelled in it. I only knew that she excelled in her studies and will be Dr Voon in the near future since she will be taking medicine when she goes to university. I love this piece which she did for her exams. Simply fabulous considering that it's done by a teenager.
I also had a good time sharing photos with Patricia. She showed me her wedding photos (she got married in 1989) and another picture which we took together when we were really young. I can’t believe it. She was carrying me at that time. I’ve never seen that photo before. Well! It’s only today that I know she’s 12 years older than me.
23/11/2007 (Friday)- Amsterdam I didn’t want to bother Patricia today because she has been bringing me around Holland since I arrived. So I decided to be a little more adventurous and take the train to Amsterdam alone as I only managed to visit the Van Gogh Musuem that day.
The single trip from Voorschoten where I am staying to Amsterdam is not cheap. It cost 8.30 euro and takes about an hour to get there. Patricia helped me to purchase the train ticket since the ticket machine didn’t take cash and she helped me check out which platform to go and where to change train. It was quite an experience for her too since she don’t take the train.
The Central Station in Amsterdam. It's a really busy station which lots of platforms.
I had a good time in Amsterdam. It was easy to go around and I didn’t need to use my maps to help me navigate through. I walked straight from the Central Station and passed by the Sex Museum. I decided to go in to take a look. It’s a 3-storey small museum and I thought it’s pretty much the same as the one which I went either in Australia or when it came down to Singapore some years back.
Thereafter, I walked down further and reached the Dam Square where Madam Tussaud
Musuem is. This is the Koninklijk Paleis. It was built as the town hall and symbolises the civic power of the 17th century Amsterdam. It is still used for state occassions currently.
I had originally intended to visit the one in London but did not have the time. So I just decided not to miss the opportunity and bought the ticket. The introduction bit was rather scary and for once, I thought I had gone to the wrong exhibition and ended up at the dungeon instead. There were only five of us. The two European girls who were ahead of me were screaming because one of the guys at the museum dressed in some ghostly and bloody costume came out from no-where to scare us. It was quite scary for me too. The two girls were kind enough and asked if I was ok since I was alone. I can only say that I am glad I wasn’t standing in front and I really wished I wasn’t alone at that moment.
Anyway, these are some shots from the Mdm Tussaud's Musuem.
Me & my favourite princess, Princess Diana
Me & Brad Bitt
View of the square from the museum.
Shopping in Amsterdam
Stalls selling tulip bulbs
I walked around Amsterdam and thankfully, managed to find my way to the Ann Frank Huis around 6pm.
Thankfully, it was still open as they close late during the winter months. I would have been really disappointed if I didn’t get to visit the place since I studied the Diary of Ann Frank when I was in secondary school. Looking at the exterior, it was a small house. Thus, it was a surprise that there were many hidden places in the house.
My Amsterdam City trip wouldn’t be complete without visiting the Red-Light district which I was determined to find. Ginny had asked me if I have gone ‘window-shopping’ in the email which she send 2 days ago. Cecilia, Jason & Jeff had also told me about it before I came.
This time, I had to check out the map. I thought navigating around London was much easier as everything was in English. But here, things were in dutch and the spelling seems rather foreign. I mean, I can’t even pronounce it. But having read in the tourist guide books that Amsterdam is a small city and you could cover it by foot, i had to find the place. Thankfully I did, without much difficulty.
It was just next to the square, where Madam Tussaud is and there was this street which was lighted up with Christmas Street décor. There were many people heading towards that direction and well, I just followed. The street had many eateries and Chinese restaurants. And the red-light district was just off that main street. I would say that it was quite an eye opener as the gals were well, just like mannequeins in window displays. And most of the passer-bys were just curious on-lookers.
So what did I see? One men getting into the ‘door’ and the girl closed the curtain which means business in progress. And there was another guy who completed his business and got out. There was also this big group of guys whom I believe were just curious as to how much the gal would cost and asked about the charges. Well, there were hand gestures all over but I think they had some difficulty checking out the price as they were on the ground floor and the girl was on the second floor.
Well, the return trip home was rather interesting. It took me a longer time to reach home than expected. The announcement on the train was in dutch and I didn’t know that it was an express train to Rotterdam. I thought they meant that it was heading to Rotterdam and would stop by Voorscoten. So, when I realised the mistake, I had to quickly alight at Den Haag Central and take 3 stations back. It was freezing cold and it didn’t help when I was tired, unwell and didn’t wear enough warm clothes. The Voorscoten station is dead quiet.
Thankfully, Patricia came to the station in just 5 mins time after i called her. I am just so blessed!
24/11/2007 (Saturday)- Christmas Market in Germany The weekend is here finally and since it’s not a working day, John and Pat brought me to the Christmas Market in Aachen, Germany. It’s a 2 hour drive from Holland and I was quite lucky. The Christmas Market just started yesterday.
I like this shot of the windmill which i took from the car.
We stopped by a petrol kiosk to buy petrol and toilet break. Patricia asked me to check out the guy in Xmas Outfit at the petrol kiosk. They are only dressed like that during the christmas season. There's a name for it which i've forgotton.
The 3 gals @ the back-seat of the car. Steph sat in the middle and she told the dad that he needs to buy a bigger car as he has two growing daughters who has long legs. We all had a big laugh over her comments.
I have always wanted to visit the Christmas Market in Germany and thus, this was like a dream come true. The streets around the Aachen Town Hall was transformed into a paradise of lights and colours and there were choir singing carols and band playing Christmas music on stage. It seems to be an early Christmas for me and it felt really nice with the cold weather (it was 3 degrees). Kids were busy playing on the carousel and there were loads of food sold and colourful stalls selling all kinds of Christmas decorations, many whom I have not seen before.
I love the shops selling cookies. They are simply irrestible.
With Kim & Steph
The gals went crazy shopping in Germany. John mentioned that the things are cheaper than Holland.
I tried German sausage with bread and another famous dutch delight, the pea soup which Kimberly has been telling me about. The Dutch pea soup is a meal in itself and is full of fresh winter vegetables and chunks of sausage. I had to share it with Steph coz. I think I am beginning to have an over-dose of sausage for the afternoon.
Overall, it was a great experience of a German Christmas Market in Germany.
It has a great atmosphere with an excellent location by the cathedral. But I guess I was expecting the market to be much larger. This is indeed an early christmas for me.
In my reindeer hat. The gals insisted that i need to take a photo with it by the stall.
Today, I also saw another side of John which I have never seen before. He was feeling rather cranky as what Stephanie commended. He seems to be an impatient driver. But sometimes, I guess the behaviour is understandable when there’s heavy traffic jam and seems that the GPS system wasn’t working well, we started the journey 15mins later than the intended time. He was complaining loads and I can only say that poor Patricia got it all from him.
I’m not here to comment or write about John’s complains but it did give me a better understanding on what marriage is especially in the area of tolerance and giving in and accepting the good and bad about eachother. It has also gave me a better perspective on the role of a wife and mother, especially when they have been married for 18 years with two teenage kids.
The pace of life is much slower in Netherlands as compared to London. I miss the flexibility of going around by myself like what I do when I am in London. Travelling around London is so easy and convenient. But not here!
25/11/2007 (Sunday)- Giethoorn, Little Venice of Holland Today is Sunday and when I woke up at 9am this morning, I thought of Sunday service back home. I wish I was there. But hang on, service is over as it is 4pm back in Singapore.
It seems funny but throughout this trip, I slept really well and had all kinds of funny dreams. Most of the dreams are those whom I will forget when I wake up but a lot of it surrounds friends.
It is bright and sunny outside and as I peeked out of the window of my room, I could see a canal at the back-yard of people’s home. But the sky looks grey.
Today is another long distance drive day. This time, I am going to Giethoorn, Venice of Holland. It’s a charming village with its many canals and bridges and beautiful gardens.
It's quite a scenic drive and i saw many generators in the wide field and along the expressway.
And i spotted rainbow along the way too.
It was raining when we reached there. John wanted to leave and perhaps head to Amsterdam. But thankfully, the rain stopped after awhile.
We walked around the place and I can’t believe that the weather is turning really cold again. My hands are freezing as it’s 3 degrees. We had tea in one of the cafes there.
John ordered Kroket and Frikandel for me to try. Both are fried, roll-formed snacks containing some meat.
We walked around the place for a little, took some photos before running back to the car due to the rain.
Patricia & me. One of the only picture which we have taken together in recent years.
Kim pointed these out to me. We thought it was quite cute.
Kim & me just before the rain comes.
But well, at least it wasn’t a fruitless trip as I get to see a little of Giethoorn. I thought the houses look interesting. It seems to be a picture taken off some Enid Blyton storybook.
It has been a good trip and holiday. Just like what John commented, it seems that I have seen half of Holland already. I think so too.
26/11/2007 (Monday)- Last Day in Holland I’m heading home today and after a late breakfast, I can’t believe that Pat & me are such crazy H & M fan. We spend a good 2 hours in the store before heading for a late lunch and back home to pack. I told her that for this trip alone, I seem to have visited more than 10 H & M stores. I wish H & M is here in Singapore.
27/11/2007 (Tuesday) - End of Holiday I had a good flight home after transiting in London. The plane took off an hour late as they had to off-load a family who had a child onboard who was unwell.
I thought of what Pastor mentioned some months back about coming back to Singapore. I have always dread that my holiday are over so fast. That’s because it’s usually just short trips and I travel either with friends or colleagues. But this time, it was a long trip and I was alone. And for the first time, I can’t believe myself saying this when i walked out of the plane ...
it certainly feels good to be home! It was kind of a surprise as to how i felt because i am one person who has never felt home-sick during any trips before except for the first few months when i went overseas alone to study many years back.
Anyway, it has been an enjoyable trip and i got to see things which i have never seen before, met people whom i have never interacted before and experienced life in a way which i have not had the chance before. It has been a good break for me, one of the longest so far and yeah ... i kinda felt rested and ready to move on.
And yes, certainly looking forward to the upcoming Christmas Celebrations which is my favourite time of the year and ... the next holiday perhaps. In the meantime, i am looking forward to catching up with all my friends. I kinda miss them.
Labels: holiday
