TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Dutchman and I had a spill over weekend and we went to Efteling  in Loon op Zand near Tilburg down south in North Brabant. Efteling is an attraction park just like Disneyland. The differences are: Efteling is the Dutch version (it is in Dutch of course and there is no Mickey Mouse), older in history (50+ years already, original concept of a sports park born in 1933) and perhaps not as large in size, although in my opinion it’s just enough for a day of fun and leisure. Moi in the Goblin’s little village. Python roller coaster. Frankly, I am not crazy about attraction or theme parks. I have always thought they’re best for family outings with kids. Well it took me three years to go to Efteling! I even had the chance to go to Euro Disney in Paris years ago when I first visited Europe, but it’s not my cup of tea. The Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines I did visit after a month it opened, not because it was my choice, but we had a company outing there, haha. Just a quick pict...

I was in `s-Hertogenbosch [popularly known as Den Bosch by the Dutch] last Friday for an international job interview with a software applications company. The talk lasted almost two hours and I had the chance to chat with the COO himself. This isn’t really the first time I have been to Den Bosch. Two years ago, I visited the city for the same reason, a job interview, which didn’t materialize into anything. So this time, I promised to reward myself [just in case I dont get the job], a treat to explore the city’s old Centrum, something that I have never done in the past. City’s Nickname: INVINCIBLE DRAGON OF THE MARSHES The symbol of the city… the dragon monument located right in front of the train station. Den Bosch is a fortified city nestled in the midst of the north Brabant swampland [in the south of the Netherlands] and a Delta series of rivers, making the town invincible from any outside attack in the past. Because of this, the metropolis has earned the coveted title of “ The Inv...

Founded by the Romans in 50 A.D. by the Rhine river banks, the city of Colonia is definitely Germany’s oldest thriving and 4th largest. There is a German adage popularized by the Romans during the earlier times, “ You haven’t been to Germany if you haven’t seen Cologne ”. Today, the metropolis is the home to close to one million inhabitants. It has its own special dialect called Kolsch and is still proud to hold the Roman Catholic seat of Germany. This is one of the three Roman Tower remains left in the city located right in front of the Dome cathedral entrance. That’s the great Rhine river and the Hohenzollern bridge on the second photo. I am actually here to meet my cousin from the Philippines who is on her European tour. We are staying in Cologne for a few days afterwhich I will bring her with me back to the Netherlands. She wants to see Amsterdam. Cologne’s Pride and Insignia: St. Peter’s Dome Cathedral One can just gaze at its magnificence and be amazed at how intricate and luxuri...

I finally did it! My arms, not my butt, are suffering from muscle pain as we speak because I fell down a couple of times [I think 3x] from yesterday’s test run. I should enlarge this foto and frame it. Don’t you think? That’s my instructor who was very patient with me. The first trial lesson was surprisingly easy. I had a good “ feel ” of the thick ski blades and those sturdy monster ski boots locking my feet. I learned how to glide down and how to move my hands up on the air down to my knees. The instructor also taught me how to slow down and brake by using the wide “ V ” method and also by slightly jumping off. Another thing I learned is how to glide and curve. You know, those nice choreographed ski stunts we see on TV with professional skiers parading down the slope in a “ to-the-left ” and “ to-the-right ” rhythm... ah, wish I can do that soon. The technique was bending the knee which I enthusiastically tried but this 35 year old bone coupled with my less daring stamina spells a ...