TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

“A week from now begins the World Cup in Germany and I am quite curious how far and hard the Dutch will thrust their sense of humour down the throats of the Germans. Are we then going to witness a sacrilege; a sea of orange Nazi helmets flooding the German football stadiums?” “When I first listened to Hans Teeuwen, a famous Dutch stand-up comedian, his exaggerated pumping adrenalin-rush sexual monologues left me in a bemused state. One of his exceptionally popular stage parodies was about women. In general, he said, all women are "kuthoeren" (cunt whores). I felt, in the most literal sense, like I was in a tug-of-war; part of me wanted to laugh out loud while the other part was totally appalled. --- Hilarious, definitely, but the insults and sexually explicit rant were way below the belt. To add abnormality to the insult, the reaction of our Dutch women friends was a huge surprise; they laughed their hearts out and didn't feel put out at all.” To continue reading the arti...

The original plan was to spend a week or two in the Brazilian coast for this years summer holiday but the paranoid Dutchman raised a very valid point: the country is currently plagued with social unrest due to the Brazilian crime gang problem in the cities. I tried using my negotiation tactics, explaining that Brazil is a huge country and that the problem areas are pretty much isolated within the urban districts. We can always elect to keep away from the metropolis and off the beaten tracks, and stay within the coastline and touristy spots perimeter. Still, the Dutchman insisted it is unsafe. Anyway, I checked the news and indeed there are presently close to 125,000 crime gang members in the country. So, with a heavy heart, I took heed. Oh well, such a pity. We will just have to wait and do sexy Brazil another time. So my back-up summer holiday choices: the mythical Greek Cyclades or Dodecanese islands ... or the sultry Spanish Balearic islands . 1st foto: One of the Dodecanese island...

Spring, why have you forsaken me? Summer, where are you? Dutch weather It’s already been a whole week of depressing wringing-wet 11C by day in the flatlands. How can one have a positive charming disposition with this kind of soppy weather? The week before this, the temperatures were quite high; high enough to make me sweat under my duvets in the morning. As I have said a bazillion times in this blog, the weather in this country is like a scorned woman having her pre-menstrual syndrome. It spells erratic. Being a tropical duckling born in the exotic islands, I had always taken the warm and sunny weather for granted, but not until I lived here... in wet, windy, grey and cold Netherlands. I realized that weather can totally influence your activity each day and even your state of mind. This is probably the reason why there are many suicides in this part of the world. Scandinavia I believe leads the statistics. In Nieuwegein where we used to live, we had 2 neighbors both males who committed...

“I was goofing around one afternoon with a colleague. Let's just say that he didn't expect me to bite and pull his leg in return. He complained, ‘Heb je vandaag een klap van de molen gekregen?’ Huh, what do you mean? Literal translation : were you struck by a windmill today? Translation : a person is not being himself or herself today. And here is my favorite saying of the country, ‘God schiep de aarde, de Hollanders schiepen Holland.’ Literal translation : God made the earth, the Dutch made Holland. Translation : the Dutch are known for its pioneering technology in water defense and land reclamation. Here's an apt story about this... When I was a kid, I read about the legend of the brave little Dutch boy called Hans Brinker. He allegedly saved his whole town from the devastating flood waters by inserting his finger into the small hole of the dike to stop the waters gushing through. Since it's a typical Dutch story, I assumed my in-laws knew Hans Brinker. Upon giving my...

In the Dutch-Belgian border: Troep maken is boete betalen means in English: LITTERING IS PENALIZED. So... can you spot the caught in the act irony? Who wants to cash in the € 50? Oh another irony, er no, mockery that is --- the Eurovision Song Festival . Hypothetically the battle of European singing talents, uh-huh, but since all contestant countries is at the mercy of other countries for votes, the whole show in my opinion has sourly digressed - from a classic European talent exhibition into a pseudo European circus act. It escapes me why organizers of this event cannot see the voting procedure as a form of unmitigated allied cronyism = kissing each others countries asses? I got no beef to fry against Finland but one word to describe the Finnish rock group, LORDI that won last night’s competition: V-R-E-S-E-L-I-J-K! (check babelfish if you do not know what that means) Last year, Ruslana in her Amazon-tribal-warrior-getup and her cannibal looking troupe from Ukraine won. This year, t...

I’ve told myself one time that I do not see myself blogging until the age of 40 and that one day I will wake up and say --- I have had enough of blogging! LOL Well lately, I have been lazy to write, not to mention I was busy with many urgent matters to attend to... but then again, I always find time to write... just not recently. On the other hand, the Dutchman is still across the globe and its been 3 weeks long already. This is so far the longest business trip he ever made, well in years. Maybe I am just missing him. Anyway, I have here some interesting pictures of baguettes and lovers in Paris, taken a week and a half ago. 1st Photo: Old Parisian women chatting in the corner of the street, one holding a baguette. MadamE and I had dirty minds; we broke out into fits of laughter because the old woman holding the baguette kept pointing it to the other old woman below her waist! Didn’t I say before that these French breads looked like oversized phalluses? 2nd Photo: A hunk Parisian guy w...

“Have you ever tried holding off buying new clothes for summer hoping that the struggling diet will, maybe, just maybe, finally work, asks blogger Dutched Pinay.” “There are also many women who do not really care at all. Huge flab handles, hairs whisking out from their armpits or patches of corns and calluses protruding from their sandals, they are just not bothered. Bless them. I wish I have such courage.” To continue reading, click: Expatica - Summer Pressures or click the Dutched Pinay logo on the side bar just below the shoutbox. Tags: Spring and Dutch gardens (03/2006), Expatica Main , Expatica Netherlands , Netherlands Expat Blog

A week and a half ago, I spent a wonderful time with a beautiful couple from New Zealand in Gouda. Yes, Gouda the cheese brand is also a name of a town here in Holland, about 20 minutes from Utrecht. Their 5-week holiday in Europe was spent staying with Dutch relatives, meeting friends and visiting several pockets of the Netherlands, a few cities in Germany and Barcelona, Spain. Well what can I say? Meneer B and Chef Doll are like ultimate gifts of spring to mankind. With the years tucked under their belts (both are way over 50), combined with the colorful varied life experiences they’ve earned and the wisdom too that they’ve gained, they charge at life with a very cheerful outlook. They frolic and enjoy life’s adventures to the fullest, eagerly waiting on what’s next on the list. So full of vibrant and contaminating zest; at my almost 36 age, I am ashamed, I have to keep up. Their friendliness too, is like staring through the bottom quilt of white sugary sand beneath the crystal blue ...

“ And I still remember the time when ‘the Dutchman’ first saw my checkbook; he broke out in a huge mocking grin. And with the chutzpah meter running up high to his ears, he declared that the check system is primitive, inefficient, fraud-sensitive and, to his Dutch sensibilities, expensive. Furthermore, I have always tried to live below my means and have proactively shied away from the mob of credit card worshippers. It was a sacred code I lived by each day; seeing people drowning in debt, their lives hijacked by banks and credit card companies was a sure-fire motivation indeed. However, being put into the same polder with the generic Dutch population has not only opened up my eyes to many unimaginable parsimonious ways of living, but I realized that my economizing standards are too low, in fact nothing compared to the Dutch!” To continue reading, click: Expatica - Dutch Consumerism 101 or click the Dutched Pinay logo on the side bar just below the shoutbox. Tags: Internet banking (03...

I’m just back from a 3-day Paris get-away weekend with MadamE. Weather conditions were fine, fluctuating between 18C to 24C but on Saturday evening, our moods were heavily dampened as we were met with what every tourist on a short holiday would fear: The Parisian weather turned its back on us and poured its lack of sympathy the whole night. Ugh, the terrible rain never stopped, worse it killed my blow-dry hair day! GGRRR... Our plans of taking a long walk along the famous and grand Champs-Elysées avenue, all the way to the Arc de Triomphe, and a detour stop at the Eiffel Tower, was dumped mercilessly down the drain. Under the weather circumstances, there is no way we can enjoy the stroll, plus it was freezing cold and we only had a petite umbrella --- a lifesaver I decided to pack on the last minute, thinking that perhaps we may need it, and eventually we did. We did a lot of things though; we went with the guided Paris tour, took many pictures here there and just everywhere, ate crepe...

Here are some interesting snippets of my male experience: While walking in the streets of Makati, I came across a tall nice looking guy who deliberately stopped me on my tracks... English guy (pretending he was lost and scratching his head): “Hi, do you know where [insert any street name here] is? I seem to be lost!” “It’s over there, on the right corner.” English guy: “I’m quite new in Manila...” --- And he further rattled off eloquently albeit with style (ah, a typical Brit, good thing he didn’t start calling me darling, love and sweetheart). “Do you by any chance have a calling card?” Something tells me he is a playboy. Later, I found out that he actually worked in the building right across the street, for a year already. And while passing by a busy construction site full of sweat drenched Filipino workers... “Pssst! Pssst! Miss! Psssssssssssttt................!” Goofing around with not-so-sober-yet wannabe quids, as Limoncello would succintly put it, in Leidseplein Amsterdam, righ...