When Charles visited from Paris

I just realised that I have a folder of photos to put on my blog and they go waaaaaaay back. I've already deleted many that aren't even interesting anymore. But here are a few from when Charles came to Rotterdam for the weekend to visit his friend Ludo. It was quite a significant meeting because it was through Charles that I met Ludo, and through Ludo that I was suddenly introduced to the world of expats in Rotterdam.

Unfortunately, by now, Ludo has finished his contract in Rotterdam and is back in Paris. Nice guy and very sociable, albeit with a really strong French accent. Hopefully we can meet up again soon.

After breakfast at Bagels n Beans in Rotterdam, we decided to have a day out in Amsterdam. We parked the car at our office then walked past the houseboats to the tram.

Me and Charles on the tram.

People enjoying the sunny summer's day. There was also some breakdancing going on over there on the right.

Walking around the centre and through the street market selling flowers, tulip bulbs (most important!) and some children's marijuana growing kit.

I'm not quite sure what kind of conversation is going on here between the both of them, but the guy with the camera behind there sure is interested.

Charles collects photos of beer, beer and beer. Sometimes cocktails.

Just a nice scenic Amsterdammy photo for your viewing pleasure. And to get frachely even more excited.

Time for bed now! G'nite peeps, xxx.

Update of the week (long overdue!)

Yes, I am becoming lazy to blog, but that's because I've been too busy at work that I'm too tired to think about writing!

The past two weeks have been really hectic, with the deadline of the festival magazine arriving. After several nights of leaving the office at 2am and sometimes 4am (and remember that I work in Amsterdam and have a 75-minute journey home to Rotterdam every day - thanks so much for driving, Schrobbenmaster!), I was just so drained and thick-headed by the time we wrapped up the magazine.

The printed product arrives on Monday at the office, and I'm half excited about seeing it, but at the same time, I don't want to even look at it anymore. I'm working from home that day anyway, so at least I'll be the last one in the office to see it, and I don't have to pretend to be excited when everyone else is.

One annoying thing that's been happening at home is that the internet keeps failing. And it usually fails in the evenings and weekends, which is exactly when we want it to work! It's an additional suckfest when all my games have to be played online. So during those evenings when we're "disconnected", Schrobbenmaster and I built a Lego house that was long overdue. I took some photos of the progress but they're not on my mac yet, so wait a bit, okay guys?

Oooohhh, exciting news for the week is that frachely has FINALLY confirmed and booked her flight to NL! Woooooo!! She'll be the first friend to come visit and that is a status that no one else will ever have. Hehe.

We've been spending the past few days looking at maps and prices and discussing where to go for a quick weekend away. On the top of her list were places like Vienna and Prague, but unfortunately they take too long to travel for a weekend trip. And as trains are so expensive, it's not very worth it to travel so far for a short time. And yes, we're taking the train because budget intercontinental airlines are so unreliable. I'd rather spend a little more money and save some time than spend 2 hours in an airport with no seats waiting for the plane. Plus, I hate check-in times and I hate weight and luggage content limits.

Anyway, after long discussions, we settled on Paris because it only takes 2.5 hours by train. It's freakishly expensive though, but there's no way around that. If I'd known that I was going to be buying these expensive tickets, I probably wouldn't have splurged on those 2 pairs of awesome, awesome shoes at Manfield last weekend. But then... they are really awesome, so who knows?

Talking about splurging, because I was such a good girl last month, not having shopped at all and saving lots of money, I went all out last weekend. And I know, it sort of defeats the purpose, but when you're feeling down and drained from work, retail therapy REALLY works. Besides those Manfield shoes, I got some items from Scotch & Soda (or Maison Scotch, I think the female version is called), a very cool boutique nearby, and as usual, my favourite haunt, Mango. I haven't worn all my new stuff yet though, because I didn't want to go to work every day in something new and spoil the "special"ness of it. Slow and steady!

Last piece of news is that I finally attended the new season of my ballet school. It was the second of the season, but I couldn't make it to the first class because of the dang magazine. It was really wonderful to go for ballet, but the teacher really makes me nervous and stressed about performing well! I guess that's a good thing. If you don't push yourself, you don't improve, right?

Next post will have photos, I promise!

xxx to all!

REVIEW: Boom Chicago in Amsterdam

Last Wednesday, Schrobbenmaster and I went to watch Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. I had been feeling quite culturally barren since coming here, as musicals and stage shows are all in Dutch and I don't particularly feel like "working" to enjoy a show. So I asked Schrobbenmaster if there was anything at all that I could enjoy in English. He then described Boom Chicago as a show by Americans, basically taking the mickey out of the Dutch.

How could I pass up something like that?!

So we looked online (I love how you can get anything online here) and reserved a Burger Deal (Burger + show) for last Wednesday.

Boom Chicago has a permanent address at the historic Leidsepleintheater in the heart of Amsterdam. After the show, the bars around it were filled with people and lights and tourists, and everything looked really cool. Gotta go back there for some nightlife action soon.

We arrived right on the dot of our reservation at 18:30. Picked up our tickets at the box office and went into the performance/dining area.

All pictures were taken with the iPhone, and we all know it doesn't ever deliver when it's even slightly dark. My fault for not bringing a camera with me. They were also meant to be tweeted, which is why I didn't shoot horizontally.

Anyway, although we pre-ordered and paid for the Burger Deal, drinks are not included, as it always is in this country.

The room/hall is really nice, dark, old and woody. Like those old-time cabaret shows in America that they showed in Funny Girl and the film version of Chicago (never saw it onstage).

I was so friggin hungry, so was absolutely THRILLED to get an American-sized burger and fries (were more like chips but just as awesome). Not as thrilled to get an Amsterdam-sized drink though. Especially as it had to last 4 hours till the end of the show (I'm such a stingypuss, I know). But, seriously, check out the size difference of the plate and the drink!

The show we watched was The Best of Boom Chicago, but... I do have to say I was a little let down by that claim. Most of the show was improv with suggestions from the audience, a la Whose Line Is It Anyway, which is all fine and amusing and all, but whatever happened to the dissing of the Dutch? The few parts that I genuinely giggled and enjoyed myself, I have to admit, were the parts that they did things related to the Dutch. Not necessarily insulting them, but even acting like them, or mocking certain behaviour that outsiders find uniquely peculiar.

On the whole, it was okay to pay €29,95 for the show, it was still enjoyable... but it just wasn't as enjoyable as it should have been.

I think I would actually have enjoyed Upgrade or Die! more, as it would be something else I can relate to quite well, being a semi-nerd myself. Well, something cultural for next month!

What happens before sleep?

I have to write a hurried post because I'm trying to sleep before midnight tonight. The tradition for Schrobbenmaster and I is to watch a light British comedy (currently That Mitchell and Web Look) or awesome motoring show (Top Gear) or sometimes even a mild action show (Human Target or Flash Point). We try to keep to half hour shows (The Simpsons, IT Crowd), but even then, after all the face-washing, teeth-brushing, water-drinking and cat-feeding, we end up sleeping past midnight. Which, of course, makes it hellish to get up for work the next day.

It's been extremely busy at work since last week. As I'm the only designer in the office, everything falls on my shoulders. Sometimes it's nice, as I pretty much control every design that goes out, but at the worst times, I have to slave away at Photoshop, putting a necklace and a phone together into one picture. True story. Happened for one necklace with many phones, took up the entire day.

Some good news is that Schrobbenmaster and I have been talking about our business plan for Goodputty. Haven't got a solid plan, but things are sounding good. I've even started a Twitter account for Goodputty, to 'force' myself to keep updating its portfolio and keep the business active. Please follow :)

I have some cool stuff for a bit later on in this blog. I've been working on, among other things, a poster for our current client at the ad agency I work at. This poster began all the way back in... was it May? Definitely by June. And 2 months later, if not more, it's not finalised yet. There are many versions of it, usually just by a few tweaks, and I would really like to display them as a kind of exhibition on how "particular" *ahem* clients can be.

In the meantime, I've just got my nose to the grind and now it's time for bed yet again.

Just pitter pattering about... Starcraft II and spending money!

Since July 27th, I've been busy playing Starcraft II with Schrobbenmaster every weekend (and after dinner on weekdays if we have the time and energy). It's great! I played the original Starcraft while I was still in university - that would be kinda 10 years ago now - and I loved it. I'm so glad they spent the time and money to make the second part as great as it is. I really couldn't ask for more.

This weekend has been really cosy. It's just after payday, so we went out to do some errands on Friday night, which is koopavond (buying evening) in Rotterdam, meaning shops are open till 21:00 *shock horror wheeze*, instead of until 18:00.

I just checked my bank balance and I can't believe how little I have!! I thought I'd have more savings this month since I'm not travelling and don't have any guests, but what the... I have less than €1k now. I did buy two tickets to watch Boom Chicago, supposedly a hilarious American comedy show about life in NL. I got the Burger Deal, which sounds awesome... a show and a burger dinner :P Apart from that, another expensive buy was a layout design textbook (I'd better learn some useful stuff from it!!!) and a new ballet leotard (which I really did need, as my previous black leotard, bought some 5 years ago, is now greyish at sweaty areas).

At least I've set aside a few hundred in a newly created savings account, which should earn me interest in the next few months. That's money that will work for me!! If only I was more savvy in investing, I could do so much more.

Now, after seeing my bank balance, I'm not so sure if I want to take archery lessons next week. I was planning to because I've always loved the idea of being able to do it. I did some recreational archer-ing (?) many years ago and loved it. And when I came here and found out that people apparently only make friends in sporting and hobby clubs, I decided to look for an archery school/club. Found one where the trainers are willing to try their hand at teaching in English (which is really nice of them and makes me want to go even more), but I'm wondering if I should be saving that money instead (I can already hear Mumsy Bumsy telling me to do exactly that).

Anyway, it's late now and it's time to cook some dinner and hopefully some Starcraft II after? What say you, Schrobbenmaster? :D

Thanks for coming to see me!

Okay, this is really long overdue but I finally have the time (and energy) to write about Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh's wonderful visit here.

I may say "wonderful" but I think they would call it something else those first few days.

It was the height of the summer temperatures and gosh you cannot be prepared for that sort of heat and absence of wind, even coming from Malaysia. Every day for 3 days straight just drained us of our energy, and the goal of every outing was not to find the beautiful canal or church, but to find the shade.

Thankfully by mid-trip, the temperatures eased and we were getting the mid-twenties again.

The trip seemed all too short, because on one day, we're unloading the car with all their bags and I'm unpacking all my treats brought over from KL, and the very next, I'm a little Malaysian island again in Rotterdam.

I don't have any photos of their trip, they're all on Facebook under my sister's account. But I really cherish the time they spent here and their effort of making their way here, from across the world. I hope I made them feel welcome and comfortable enough. I know it was a pretty different experience from life in KL, though.

I asked Yelleh Belleh once in private: "Have I changed since I came here... do I seem any different to you?". And she answered: "No... but well, maybe you seem less... city-like.".

I totally understand that sentence. Life is so different here. You don't whiz around in a car, all socialite-like and get dressed in heels and glittery dresses. People here are more domesticated, they love their homes and they love their comfy Vans/All-Stars. I've grown to get used to this, but I really do miss the "city life" of KL. The glamour of living in a big apartment (and with 2 bathrooms... suck it, you miserable Dutch people who can't believe someone would want 2 bathrooms!), eating out every night, going for coffee and snacks till 3am every weekend and all our many areas with international awesome restaurants and bars.

Life in KL is awesome... but politics in Malaysia is dreadful. Talk about the Brain Drain? This is what I mean. I love living in KL and it was so good having a bit of KL with me here when Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh came to visit. I would go back in a flash if it wasn't for knowing that I'm considered a "tolerated" citizen over there. I've only been in NL for 5 months, but I already genuinely feel "accepted" here.

Okay, I know this has been a real jumble of a post with all kinds of topics in it. Originally meant to be a sweet, appreciative post on my family taking the time and effort to come to visit me. Turned midway into a gushing "I miss KL" moment and ended up almost touching on the political side of the country and how disgusted I am by the petty religious matters being brought up.

I would really love to write more - am really in the mood to wax lyrical about living in KL, but my cup noodles are now overcooked, sitting in front of me and I really gotta eat it before it gets too late and I'm too full for my dinner.

Response to my post about living in NL

A few weeks ago, I published a post on the 10 things I like about living in NL and the 10 things I don't. I got a response from Schrobbenmaster on each point.

Here they are... with my own responses in bold.

Things I like about living in NL.

1. I have a stable job and I'm still a designer --- But not as free as in MY
2. I'm earning in euros --- But spending in Euros as well
3. We have a car that we don't have to pay for --- But you have to travel longer to work
4. Pretty flowers in summer on the balcony --- But in winter everything is dead
5. I have the opportunity to learn a foreign language and culture --- Which takes too much time you don't have
6. People are (mostly) friendly and speak English --- But they rather speak Dutch and be not friendly
7. Cleaner air and water --- But more expensive to buy water in shops
8. I can travel around Europe more easily --- But harder to travel in Asia
9. Cleaner public toilets --- But you have to pay, and there are less public toilets
10. Super fast internet --- Internet to Malaysian sites is still really slow

Then again, maybe I haven't complained enough...

Things I don't like about living in NL.

1. It's too bloody cold to shower for half the year --- But its a nice feeling to warm up under the shower --- Me: The shower has to end some time.
2. Things and places are older and less modern-equipped --- Which gives it a more cosy feeling --- Me: Really? REALLY?
3. I feel so pressured to speak Dutch --- But you can speak English to almost anyone
4. Can't see my family, friends or my dogs --- But you can see me!
5. Food is only half as good and not cheap --- The Western brands in Malaysia are more expensive than here --- Me: I'd rather have more choice and variety. And flavour.
6. Moviegoing and other Malaysian "necessities" are expensive --- But downloading films is fast and free
7. The Dutch selfishness, masked as "individualism" --- At least no peer pressure for being in a group
8. No good mix drinks in clubs --- But a wider selection for beers, quicker service and cheaper --- Me: Cheaper only for beers.
9. I can't buy books or magazines in English - small selection + very expensive --- But a more free media environment in NL and much more in Dutch. --- Me: Because  I love reading in Dutch, right?
10. Less variety of affordable boutiques (ie. no Telawi) --- But cheaper A-brand (especially when earning Euros) and better quality

On the bright side, every day gets a little better.

My first proper ballet class in NL

Yesterday after work, I went for a trial ballet class in The Hague.

Since I arrived in NL, I had been looking for a ballet school to continue my lessons in, but no luck in Rotterdam. There was only one that had an okay website, but when I went to their annual concert to check them out, the quality of their ballerinas were simply abysmal. It wasn't the lack of choreography or skill of the dancers - it was the technique. You can tell when a dancer doesn't have the proper foundation, and that means that they haven't been taught well.

So I gave up on looking for ballet schools for a while, until Moeder Irma emailed me one day and asked if I'd like to join her summer classes. Summer school for ballet is more of a one-off thing, you can register at any school for just one class (or more). This is because many ballet schools close during the summer (school holidays), so the ones who remain open welcome other students for the timebeing.

Last Wednesday, I followed Moeder Irma to her class in Alkmaar, 30 minutes from Hoorn. Schrobbenmaster and I had to stay in Hoorn for the night because of that.

Well, the class was quite hard, especially when I hadn't been taking lessons for over a year and all my muscles and technique were already rusty. But it helped inspire me again to look for schools, and this time I spread my search outside of Rotterdam.

That's how I found Balletschool Mabel Alter.

It's located in The Hague, very close to the centre (therefore has really expensive parking) and in a secure and nice house/building overlooking a canal. From their website, I could tell that they were a professional school because of the information they provided, but mostly from the strict dress code they have. In ballet, basically, the stricter you are, the more professional you are :P

The class I was put into based on my experience was Intermediate and it was pretty scary when the teacher announced: "This class is Intermediate, so you should be able to listen to the steps once and then repeat immediately!". Oh gawd, I'm absolutely abysmal at choreography! But I survived, even with lots of mistakes.

I also received a: "Do you not have hairpins?" from the teacher, while she gave my spiky ponytail a light flick.

I can remember every single lecture/speech/announcement she gave in the class: "Did anyone watch the earlier class before you? No one? Tsk. You should be so obsessed about ballet that you want to see everything you can about it!"


And another one specifically directed at me: "Were you counting?" Um, no... "You should all count! You have to count! In Swan Lake, everyone is counting all the time! One! Two! Three! Four! Count after me!", after which I partly redeemed myself by answering correctly to the question: "At which count do you make your turn?"

I was, in the entire duration of the class, scared shitless of the teacher. But very inspired. It's the only way (at least I believe so) to really step your game up in such a strict and difficult discipline as ballet. So I decided to sign up for their new season in September. Very excited about it! I will be so ready for it. Hairpins and all.

A weekend full of socialising and sleeping.

It has been a long time coming, but you finally can move on from Brussels :P

Been back at work for a week now since Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh left NL. Really enjoyed their visit here... so good to have a piece of home.

But now it's Monday again and no more holidays to look forward to till after the NS Try Out Festival in October. Boohoo...! I hate stress and last-minute things, which are inevitable when you work with lots and lots of people. Just have to be a hermit every weekend now and get my de-stressing rest.

Highlights of last weekend include:

• Waking up at 11am, having lunch, then going back to sleep till 4pm.
• Having a 1-hour cruise on a Pancake Boat with unlimited pancakes (managed to stuff 3 down).
• Actually asking a new friend out for drinks instead of waiting to be invited. Ended up being a really gezellig cocktail night round the corner from our place with 5 of us.
• Waking up at 1pm the next day. And simply not having any energy at all to do anything.
• Another social outing at Bagels n Beans, with a lovely mochaccino and chocolate muffin.
• Reinstalled Snow Leopard to speed up my MacBook Pro and downloaded trial 10-day version of World of Warcraft. Quite entertaining, actually.
• Counting down to the launch of Starcraft II!!!

One of the things I love about living here is the ease of ordering things online. Ordered a design book last week and anticipating its arrival some time this week. Goodness knows I really need a new design book to inspire and teach me! I hope it's as good as the reviews say it is.

And one of the things I don't like about living here is how things are so spread out in different cities. If this were KL, everything I would want would be in the city itself. But here, if I want to take ballet lessons from a good school, I have to travel all the way to The Hague. And it's not even considered something unimaginable here. As if I would travel from KL to Putrajaya for a ballet lesson!

Mmmmm... lunch soon, and stroopwafel for dessert!

Brussels/Brussel/Bruxelles (Part 2)

We really had no idea where to go or what to do in Brussels. I didn't do any research on it as I wanted to be surprised. All I knew about it was that it had really nice buildings from my searches for hotels. So we just walked around aimlessly, following our feet. And we stumbled upon so many nice things!

I love what they did with the wall murals. It's not just random abstract art, but it's actually street life (might even be this particular street, in fact) and I think it's so cool how through the years you can see how the place may have changed. Also, the style of these gigantic wall paintings are very similar, almost comic-style (Belgium is famous for their comics), so it gives a kind of uniformity to the city.

Same view as before, but from across the road. We first sat at Cafe Lombard (on the left of the photo) then Schrobbenmaster decided that the bar across the street called De Plattesteen looked nicer. Good call!

Actually, we came onto this road earlier in the afternoon and somehow wound up back here again at night, which is why we decided to drink our must-have Belgian beer here.

The buildings here look so Parisian. And once again, so amusing how all signboards have both French and Dutch names on them. How do they even decide what to put on their business cards, I wonder.

That's like a mini old Times Square in front, with the old Coca Cola billboard. This is me having just come out of a Leonidas store to buy the required Belgian chocolate. Truffles are always my choice!

I actually look nice in this picture *gasp*. When walking all day on a hot summer's day, you need a fresh drink at regular intervals. This time we had two milkshakes because, man, juices are expensive. And all ice teas are fizzy! Grr.

After that, we headed to the regular shopping street - as in, regular high street shops, nothing special. It was sooooo friggin crowded because they were having a sale, and the Yves Rocher shop with body and face stuff was even all on 50% discount! I walked in, saw the queue and squeezed out. Boy, oh, boy.

After a few shops, we couldn't take the crowd and the heat, so we veered off to the parallel road and stumbled upon a very peaceful square with a statue in the middle. It was too sunny and hot to walk over to read his name, though, so... apologies for the weakness of my human body.

The heat had taken its toll on my truffles so we hurriedly squished them into our mouths.

For such a grand city it's funny that the road we were on is called Parsley Street. Anyway, here's another signboard for your viewing pleasure.

I like the way they landscaped one corner of the square with bushy tree hedges.

We walked on, back to a busier area, through a nice little park area and found a very tall, grand church.

And some queer, vandalised bulls in the little park area.

End of Part 2! Time to get ready for bed, and hopefully Part 3 tomorrow, amongst all the house cleaning and preparations for Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh's arrival a week from now! Yippee!

Brussels/Brussel/Bruxelles (Part 1)

Last weekend, Schrobbenmaster and I went for a quick trip to Brussels. He had received two first-class train tickets to Brussels for doing the NS Try Out Festival 2009. Although I had done the newspaper for it, I wasn't around till the end, so I didn't get anything *sniff*.

Luckily he received two tickets, so we booked a night's stay at Le Meridien and hopped onto the international train.

I didn't know what to expect at all. From Schrobbenmaster's stories about Brugge and Antwerp, I assumed that Brussels would be a kind of small Amsterdam.

Boy, was I wrong.

Just arrived at Brussel Centraal, or Bruxelles Centrale in French.

Brussels uses two main languages of Dutch and French, but in recent times, the French influence has gained more momentum. It's quite funny to see all signboards in both Dutch and French. Now I don't have to feel so annoyed when I see both Malay and English used on our signboards.

Le Meridien is directly opposite the train station so it was very convenient upon arrival to check in early and when we left, to just pick up our bags and go within a few minutes.

Schrobbenmaster tried speaking Dutch to the receptionists but they insisted on speaking French. I guess that although all their signs are dual language, some people are just more French-minded.

And just as a note, the hotel was nice, but the staff weren't and most especially the concierges. You'd expect the concierges to be the most courteous and helpful, but once, when I asked, "Do you have a plaster?", he just said, "... Non.". And they answer your requests for maps or baggage keep without a single smile. Only the receptionist on our checkout actually smiled and even switched to Dutch when she saw Schrobbenmaster's name.

Anyway, after checkin, we headed straight back out towards the only tourist spot we knew (no research done beforehand), which was the Grand Place or Grote Markt.

(I think for ease of reading, I'll call the places by their French names, since everyone there speaks French)

Touristy street with restaurants.

And... Grand Place! I was awestruck by its grandness. As I said before, I only expected a mini Amsterdam, but by George, the buildings here are even grander and richer than the ones in Dam Square.

Yah, it was so nice that I had to take photos of every single corner and side.

Pretty flowers!!

Just outside Grand Place, looking at directional signboards, although we really didn't know where else to head to. So we just walked.

Look how busy it is, by the way. And I wonder what that girl on the left saw.

Okay, break for now, heading home from work. To be continued!

The Top 10

For all the complaining that I do about Dutchland, I know that I should be thankful for being here as well. Some of the reasons are:

1. I have a stable job and I'm still a designer, not a supermarket cashier (!)
2. I'm earning in euros (well... it better start improving)
3. We have a car that we don't have to pay for
4. Pretty flowers in summer on the balcony
5. I have the opportunity to learn a foreign language and culture
6. People are (mostly) friendly and speak English
7. Cleaner air and water
8. I can travel around Europe more easily
9. Cleaner public toilets
10. Super fast internet

Then again, maybe I haven't complained enough...

1. It's too bloody cold to shower for half the year
2. Things and places are older and less modern-equipped
3. I feel so pressured to speak Dutch
4. Can't see my family, friends or my dogs
5. Food is only half as good and not cheap
6. Moviegoing and other Malaysian "necessities" are expensive
7. The Dutch selfishness, masked as "individualism"
8. No good mix drinks in clubs
9. I can't buy books or magazines in English - small selection + very expensive
10. Less variety of affordable boutiques (ie. no Telawi)

Signed,

Me

Next step to independence! And the attic party.

I made an achievement today - I biked out on my own for the first time, to watch a movie! It's my day off today and I didn't have anything to do at home, so when Bin suggested that I go out for a movie, I jumped at the idea.

I knew Schrobbenmaster didn't want to watch Sex & The City 2, so I decided to watch that. I thought it was a really fun movie. Not as good as the first, nor the original TV series, but light, girly fun all the same. I love going for movies and I never take movies very seriously, except if they really mean to make it a smart, intelligent drama. But for this? It's just a light-hearted film, so I just kicked back and enjoyed the ride.

Was a little nervous about chaining my bike cuz it's the first time I'm doing it on my own, but *phew*, when I came out of the cinema, it was still there hehe.

Anyway, several weeks ago, Schrobbenmaster and I were invited to an "attic party". It was someone's birthday, but he had organised this really cool cosy gathering with friends in his attic apartment, and got 3 performer friends to perform live for us. It was really cosy and an awesome idea for a party, not only providing entertainment for us, but also exposure for those 3 performers. And unlike Asia's party, we actually all sat down on the floor to give our full attention to the performers who had prepared 3-5 songs each, including their own visuals on the wall behind.

My camera died out near the beginning so I only have a few pictures and videos of the first two performers, but that's alright with me because I found the third (and looooongest) performance to be the most sleep-inducing. Typical folk kind of songs that damn near put me into a coma. Okay, they had good voices and good harmonising, but I wish they would've been more considerate to perform 3 songs like the previous two performers, instead of 6 very long lullabies.

However, it seems that most of the others loved them the most, so... *shrug*.

Give it a listen... it's a cover of Adele's 'Chasing Pavements'. Or maybe just watch the Road Runner cartoon in the background :P

The second performers were a duo who was performing in public for the first time that night.



I liked these guys the most of all three that night. If you don't want to watch them, at least watch the video for the cute dalmatian in there, hehe.

Some things are just ridiculous

Some incredible things about life here...

---

A few days ago I felt like the tyres on our VW Golf were a little sluggish so I insisted on visiting a petrol station to fill air.

And ya know what? Ya have to friggin pay for the air!

Pay for air!

They give you 5 minutes for 50 cents.

We didn't know how long we would take, so just in case, we prepared everything before inserting the coin. In the end, we took 3 minutes to finish up, and that's with the two of us. Wow, they really cut it thin, don't they?

Pay for air!!

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Drivers on the road don't care about the sidewalks. Driving, parking, reversing... they'll do it all on the sidewalk if they have to. No wonder there're so many shitty old cars here. If you have a shiny new car, people will call you a bastard and think, "Serves you right" if you get a scratch. Basically, having a shitty car is almost a way of survival.

Yesterday, while stuck at a standstill near Rotterdam Centraal, there was a DHL van mounted on the little island sidewalk next to us. The driver had delivered something nearby and was now back in her van, trying to get out. So she inched forward, trying to turn the van around and out of there. And, never bothering to reverse and adjust herself, she inches forward all the way and scrapes our car... pretty badly.

So I get down to check the damage. She continues adjusting her van, then just simply drives off!

Such good road manners, I tell you. Naturally, we called DHL to complain today and report her van license plate.

But seriously, in the whole 10 years that I've been driving in KL, I've never seen so many cars just drive over sidewalks as if they're not there, as in the 6 months that I've been here.