A day out in Amsterdam.

One of my good friends moved from Rotterdam to Amsterdam earlier this year, and she still always makes the effort to come to our group's parties in Rotterdam. So we thought we'd repay the gesture and drop by Amsterdam one afternoon.

We decided to go to a cafe, IJ-kantine, in Amsterdam Noord, for high tea...

Okay, stop press. Every time I have to say "high tea" when I actually mean "afternoon tea", my stomach turns over and I feel a part of me disintegrate. Let me just make it clear to my readers.

"High tea" is a working class meal served after 5pm and consists of heavy dishes, such as meat, fish and vegetables.

"Afternoon tea" is what everyone else who doesn't know better means when they say "high tea".

But, as the menu at the cafe and all my friends who aren't familiar with afternoon tea call it "high tea", I shall have to use this term so as not to cause confusion.

(Still, you read it here. Afternoon tea is where the scones, cakes and light sandwiches come in. Please know the difference and don't call it high tea anymore if you can help it.)

Because the cafe is in Amsterdam Noord, we had to take a little ferry ride across the water from the train station. Here are some pics.

The cafe is right next to the ferry stop, so we were there within a few steps. But first, let's sit on a boat bench.

The interior of the cafe is very much like the typical Dutch grandcafe. One of those old factory or warehouse buildings that gets turned into a restaurant or a cafe. It's nice and modern inside. Unfortunately, the service is typical Dutch. Slow. They have one waitress for every 20 tables. Absolutely ridiculous. And don't forget that the waitresses have their own lives as well. They're not just waitresses. They have to chit chat and sigh and laugh and do whatever it is they do to prolong your waiting time for the menu.

On the whole, though, it was a pleasant experience, if you accept Dutch standards of service as they are.

Now a little behind the scenes story. During our Facebook discussion, when Lenka (the one who moved to Amsterdam) suggested for us to have high tea, we enthusiastically agreed. I then later checked the price of the high tea and discovered that it wasn't very cheap at all, especially for someone who's very soon out of a job. But because I had agreed to have high tea, I just closed one eye.

However, when we arrived at the cafe, two of the girls had no idea that we had agreed on high tea and they didn't know the price. Being students, they were worried that it was a little expensive, and there was a tiny bit of friction over us having agreed or not to have high tea (we have to book in advance for it at the cafe). In the end, it was sorted out to everyone's satisfaction.

Then the discussion about what high tea is came up. Lenka said that before that afternoon, she had thought that it was just tea being served with your choice of hard liquor. Yes, this is coming from the girl who likes to bring vodka in her bag to parties, just in case the hosts have nothing stronger than beer and wine. So, not surprising. Gave us a good chuckle!

And that is when Adél also admitted that she had thought that high tea was tea made with marijuana, much like space cake or space brownies. Well, that made a little sense, seeing as we are in Holland after all.

See? This is why it's called the elegant "afternoon tea" and not "high tea" (which, incidentally, is because the meal was served on a high table you could stand around). Makes a great story, though, right?

After our delicious meal - by the way, they only served normal cream and not clotted cream, the bastards - we hopped back onto the ferry and walked around the city centre, by way of the filthy red light district. And by filthy, I mean, the roads and the people dropping their shit everywhere. I was constantly afraid to be stepping on gum and spit. Ugh, Amsterdam.

Because we had no place in mind, I suggested visiting the relatively newly-opened Apple store, which is supposed to be the biggest in the Benelux or Europe or something. It was the morning of the iPhone 5's release and I'd been hearing about the queues.

Well, as you can see, the queues had cleared up by that time.

So we just acted like total losers and took photos in the Apple store, of all places.

The end.

Mostly about Asian food. And a bit of misery.

Let's just pretend that I didn't promise to post photos 'tomorrow', or maybe we can pretend that 'tomorrow' is today.

I need to take a break from work. I've been working since 9.30am this morning (it's 6.30pm now), and for the past two days, I've been working until 10.30pm at the office. There's just too much to finish before the festival starts, and I keep getting people asking for their items "now", "now" and "now". It's amazing I haven't collapsed yet, but I'm a strong gal, I am.

The upside to working so late in the office is that I get to order food delivered to the office. I go to Just Eat, which has a list of restaurants that deliver to the area. It's really convenient, and the list of restaurants that deliver to my office is waaaaay better than the list to my own home.

So on Monday, I decided I was really into Chinese food. Since Schrobbenmaster was eating with me, I kinda went a little wild with the dishes. I ordered spring rolls, char siew, pork fritters, foo yong hai and ma po tofu. Every time I type the names of those dishes, I have to remember not to spell it the Dutch way, the way I read it on all the menus.

Needless to say, it was yummy. And I have leftovers (lots), which I will eat tonight.

Then on Tuesday, I didn't expect to work late, but unfortunately, I had to. I even had to miss my ballet class, so I thought, well, if I'm gonna have to miss my ballet, I'm gonna make it worth it by having a nice dinner at the office. So I ordered Japanese.

We only have a € 15 per person budget for food, so as you can imagine, I couldn't order much from a Japanese restaurant. It was enough for me, but not for Schrobbenmaster :( Anyway, the food was really good, and I wouldn't hesitate to order from that place again.

Amongst the tiring amount of work being lumped on me, I have something to be thankful for - that I haven't had to cook since last Wednesday! Last Wednesday, we worked late and I ordered Thai (green curry chicken for me!). Then I think Schrobbenmaster made his sweet chilli chicken for dinner on Thursday. I don't remember what happened on Friday, I think we ate out. On Saturday, Hanselem's parents made us a wonderful Chinese dinner at his place (yummmm!) and on Sunday, Schrobbenmaster's parents came to visit and his mum made a simple chicken dinner. Then of course, there was the Monday and Tuesday which I just wrote about.

I love it when I don't have to cook. I never had to cook in KL - only simple pasta or noodle dishes. I love comfort food and I can eat the same thing all the time if I had to. Plus, I also had the option of eating top notch food from any of Mumsy Bumsy's restaurants.

I was missing KL so much last night. I was telling a friend that I go to work by car, and that the journey takes an hour. And I said, "I can't believe I work so far from where I live". Then, "I can't believe I used to work where I lived!". And followed by, "I think my life has somewhat gotten worse since I moved here..."

Sure, I have a nice apartment and I earn in euros (blablabla... I also get taxed an insane percentage). But I used to eat first-rate food in any restaurant in KL, and also delicious cheap food on the streets. I used to work at home every day and had the freedom to do whatever I wanted, any time of the day... I used to have my own company and had a goal: to make the name of Goodputty known.

But all that personal career growth is stagnant now. No one I know has any projects for me and I have to work extra hard to start a network here. No one knows me and it's so much harder when you haven't lived in a certain place for several years. You only know basically a handful of people. More importantly, they don't know you. Why should they trust you with their brand or with their project?

I intended this to be a continuation of photos from Madrid, but I think I've written enough for one post. And hey, you can't blame me for feeling the odd moment of homesickness and feeling like I lost something of myself when moving here.

A milestone! And a visit from family.

So, exactly a year ago today, I stepped off the plane and onto Dutch soil as a resident.

There have been ups and downs and lots of frustration and getting used to things. But I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track to happiness in The Netherlands.

Last weekend, my dad and stepmum visited while on holiday in London. It's always so nice to have people visiting, helping me feel a little bit more like I 'belong' somewhere, even if it's just for a short while.

Talking about belonging, I still don't feel like I belong here and it can be caused by the smallest of things that people wouldn't normally wouldn't even think about.

For instance, the other day I was queueing up to get cash from the machine. In KL, I wouldn't think twice about me standing in line and how I behave because I've lived in the environment my whole life and know instinctively what the 'etiquette' is.

But over here, I actually am aware and wonder about things like, "How far behind the guy in front should I stand?" or "Should I leave a bigger gap between myself and the guy taking cash, or is that not done here and people will be annoyed for me taking such a big space?". Yes, call me oversensitive, but I do think about things like that.

It can be stressful when your head is always filled with questions and wanting to do the right thing.

Anyway, I had a great time last weekend with my dad and stepmum. Hoping to have more visitors from home soon!

First stop, my home, of course! My dad opened the window to test our clock's judgment of the temperature. Big observation this trip: my dad is obsessed about temperature and time. How many times did he ask me to change my clocks and watches by even 2 minutes? I don't remember. But I know I definitely get my OCD from him.

Bloody cold day. My toes were annoyingly numb.

We visited Schrobbenmaster's parents in Hoorn, taking a pitstop at a Schermer windmill and lunch at Graft-de Rijp, at the restaurant behind where we're standing.

Don't you just love these candid shots?

A behind-the-scenes shot of...

... this. The photographer was way too enthusiastic to wait for us to be ready.

At last, a wonderfully sunny day! The ING building in Amsterdam where we were to take the tram into the centre. My stepmum works in ING KL, just in case you were wondering why this picture.

We trammed to Museumplein, where the Rijksmuseum is located and had a nice lunch in the sun.

From there, a walk to Leidseplein, where my stepmum busied herself in the shops for presents, while my dad watched two guys playing giant chess.

It was a long and tiring weekend, but definitely worth the trouble :)

Food for thought: Foreign languages

You know, the funny thing about foreign languages is that the words don't really mean anything to you even if you know how to say it.

How easy is it to say "Je t'aime" or "Ik hou van jou" to someone you don't love? In this case, please assume that your native language is not French or Dutch. And yet it's so hard to say it in English. Again, please assume that your native language is English.

It's pretty much something I realised when I first started learning Dutch. Right now, it's become a little more imprinted in my being, so it's more meaningful, but in the beginning, whenever I stayed the night at Schrobbenmaster's parents' house, everyone would say "Welterusten!" and then go to bed. And even though I also cheerily said "Welterusten!" to everyone, it never felt right, like I was just finishing a conversation halfway and then turning my back on them.

Same thing when we used to say goodbye to each other by saying "Doei!". I was always so tempted to add a "Bye!" as well, because it didn't feel right to just yell out a meaningless word and leave.

---

Anyway, this is my last work day before going home for the hols. There are officially 23 minutes left!

It's gonna be a little strange, I think, to be holidaying at home. I've never stayed so long away from KL before, and I'm really curious to find out how I'll feel, roaming my old haunts. The awesome thing is that I can now have as much and whatever sushi I like without caring about the price, haha. Euro, come on!

My luggage is completely packed to the brim and I hope the stroopwafels don't break too badly or spill their crumbs all over my clothes. Also hoping that my favourite shoes won't be squashed. Thank goodness it's made of well-formed and slightly hard leather and suede, so it's a little protected that way.

The next time I write, I will be in warm and humid KL!

Doei!

5 little things to be thankful for

Sometimes, little things make a big difference in our lives. There are some things here in NL that really put a smile on my face and make me thankful. Yes, indeed, we should be more thankful about things that make our lives just that bit easier.

1. Drink cartons really ARE no-spill.
2. Food is as fresh as morning dew.
3. Drivers are courteous and law-abiding.
4. Pork is easily obtainable.
5. Moleskines and Brabantias are affordable.

It is now approaching crunch time! I have to buck up and buy all the souvenirs and gifts to bring home to KL. And it's not ideal weather for going out.

Tonight, we had dinner in a really cosy place on Hoofddorpplein in Amsterdam called Kek, which is a colloquial word for "sweet and cool". We found it through Google Maps (one more thing to be thankful for) because we had planned a dinner with one of my ex-colleagues, Danny Lim (and the guy he's staying with in Amsterdam, Joao), and because of the snow, we didn't want to drive through the centre of Amsterdam. This restaurant is only 10 minutes from our office and in a nice, quiet neighbourhood.

Danny is in Amsterdam for a few days en route to Kuala Lumpur from London, via Madrid, Munich, Budapest, Vienna and a hundred other cities up till Tehran and then the journey stops abruptly only because there are no proper rail transfers across India and Iran.

What an exciting journey!

He's doing it all by rail as well. What a wonderful way to really explore and discover yourself, with all those hours alone. I think it's just great.

Anyway, the past 2 weeks have been really full of 2 or 3-course dinners at lavish restaurants and I'm feeling like I'm gonna be heading back to KL having put on weight that I never had before. I enjoyed all these dinners, experiencing more of the Amsterdam lifestyle. Too bad that it had to be at a time when my skin is really acting up and making me very self-conscious. Thankfully most gezellig places are dim indoors, which makes it easier to hide flaws :P

So back to the point of this post, the next time you encounter something that helps make your life that little bit easier (for me it's definitely the no-spill cartons), remember to pause and smile in appreciation!

Netherlands vs Malaysia

Just a quick one while I can still remember what's in my head...

It's a colleague's birthday today, and as she was walking around giving muffins to everyone in the office, I couldn't help thinking of how it's completely the opposite in Malaysia.

In NL, when it's your birthday, you are the one who brings goodies for everyone and goes around getting wished "Gefeliciteerd!".

In Malaysia, you come into the office (or wherever), and people come to wish you "Happy Birthday!" instead, and probably bring you out to lunch that day, some closer colleagues even buying you a present.

In one situation, you are making everyone else happy, and in the other, everyone else is making you happy.

Got me wondering why the Dutch have to work so hard on their birthdays, when the rest of the year, they're pretty self-centred and individualistic.

And then I realised that perhaps that's how it works...

In NL, 364 days of the year, you are being self-centred and taking care of number one. So when it is your birthday, you give back and be a nice, giving person, making everyone around you feel special for once.

In Malaysia, however, you spend so much time belonging to the group and (usually) giving in to the group's majority decision, that when it's your birthday, the group gives back to you and makes you feel like the only one that counts.

I kinda like that everything balances out in the end :)

Supperclub Amsterdam and a day trip to Bruges/Brugge

For the first time ever, frachely is really up-to-date with blogging about her travels! Read about her journey in NL here: http://frachely.blogspot.com/2010/09/autumn-fling-in-rotterdam.html

For now, here are some pics from when Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh were here. I didn't take many pictures cuz I knew that both of them would be snapping away on their holiday.

This is when we were at Supperclub in Amsterdam. It's a really cool place! I didn't know it was a dinner place as well - I knew they served meals, but this was like a whole performance. You have to make a reservation and come at the allotted time. So you basically have the same companions all night.

Firstly, Supperclub is down this really small lane and you can basically walk past it every day and not realise that it's there. That's the first cool thing about it. The only way you know it's Supperclub is if you look into the doorway and up the stairs, and see a man in a nightgown standing behind a podium with a big 'S' (copyright) on it. The Supperclub logo.

Then you go downstairs and have a drink at Le Bar Rouge downstairs (where everything is black and red) while waiting for the other guests. When dinnertime arrives, veryone walks together in a line down corridors, past a really weird Clockwork Orange type toilet (yes, you can see into it from the corridor!) and up again to La Salle Neige, a big white hall-like room with a mezzanine floor on the left and right (geez, I should've taken more pictures).

Our place was upstairs on big beds joined together. It's cosy if there are only two of you, but when there are more, it becomes a little tricky, as you can't lean back on the cushions without squeezing a stranger beside you.

So from the top, we get a view of the people opposite us and below us. There are also a few tables for people who are not so comfortable eating on beds. There was an Asian couple below who made the move. The lady was wearing an elegant black dress and pearls and she looked very uncomfortable indeed, sitting on the bed, legs stretched out.

All we have for our plates and glasses is this small metal table placed on the bed.

They have projections on the wall at the end of the room. Lots of film noir imagery really set the mood. Too bad there were only around 20 images on a loop all night.

And the dinner... the dinner was amazing!!! It was a 5-course dinner and every, single, friggin, course was perfect! The service was also excellent. The waitress assigned to our table was attentive, always smiling and very professional. She was also wearing a tight white singlet with men's white y-front briefs.

It was a really enjoyable night out, thanks to Mumsy Bumsy!

And of course, everyone who comes to visit has to go to our local Bagels n Beans :P

Having breakfast, yum.

We also took a day trip to Bruges (English/French) or Brugge (Dutch). Bruges is more Dutch than Brussels, so maybe I should be using the Dutch name for it instead. By the way, the French name for Brussels is Bruxelles. Just so you know.

Schrobbenmaster and I rented a tandem bike. We had initially wanted to rent two with the both of us biking Mumsy Bumsy and Yelleh Belleh, but they backed out cuz they don't know how to bike (gasp!). Mumsy Bumsy's mother makes fishballs from scratch and she herself doesn't know how to bike? Tsk tsk.

In the end, we were all pretty fortunate they declined the offer because when I tried sitting in front to control the bike, I just couldn't! Leading a tandem bike is way harder than it looks, don't let any of those French films fool you.

(See, we did do lots of things when you guys were here!)

Anyway, it's time for bed now. Tomorrow evening is my first proper Dutch class. Not looking forward to it as it's for FOUR FRIGGIN HOURS. And because I haven't been there before, so have to bike there on my own with Google maps. PLUS, I have another FOUR FRIGGIN HOURS the next morning early! Why four hours? Why? Why?

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.