TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Our short trip to Germany two weeks ago to visit the country’s popular tourist attraction during the holiday season, the Christmas Markets (in Keulen), was probably the ultimate of all Christmas Markets I have ever seen and visited. It was dreamlike, the heavens snowed and everything was covered in immaculate white! It was a bizarre yet enjoyable kind of experience really, starting with the mad snowfall the night before and waking up to ten centimeters of snow on the ground the next day. Thick snow was jacketing the highways, we saw cars and trucks slipping while some have stalled, others were stuck mercilessly on the shoulder. Ugh, the horrible traffic, the long hours spent inside the car driving at a slow sixty kilometers per hour on the no-speed limit autobahns of Germany. What else? Oh, we got lost too. We debated if K-Centrum stands for Koln Centrum or something else until it was too late to maneuver the vehicle to the K-Centrum exit lane which resulted to us missing the ‘right e...

Research says, and a discussion during our Christmas dinner, that the average Dutch gain 5 kilos over the Christmas holidays. But I guess it doesn't really matter to them because they are tall and lean anyway, they lose the kilos easily when they are back on the saddle biking. I know, life is sometimes unfair. We had our Christmas dinner at the Dutch sister’s during the first day of Christmas (25th of December), and due to the rush I forgot to take fotos of the starters I made. On the second day of Christmas (26th of December), we went to the home boulevard in Utrecht. Lots of shops with 50% korting and there’s this new store that recently opened with really cool furniture and home accessories. I was so tempted to buy a couple of items I fancied—I am refurnishing my home with silver and black, but I’m trying to sleep over my material lust for a night or two to make sure I really, really want the items I spotted. They’re not cheap. OK, fair enough. When working fulltime, and in Amst...

Finally on holiday but will be back at work next week Tuesday and Wednesday, then I am on my New Years holiday, after which I am flying to the Caribbean, a respite for me from this cold and gloomy weather. It’s been a winter wonderland here in the Netherlands and I have been meaning to bring my camera to work in the last few days to take fotos of the snow covered highways and streets but never got to it. Ach, I am getting old, I always forget things. Dutchman and I went out for dinner in the center tonight and I made sure I brought my camera! Here’s some fotos below of Utrecht on a winter evening: Left foto is under the Dom's arch. In the middle foto are pretty Dutch buildings and the Dom at the back. You can also see that the grounds (this is actually a stone bridge called Maartensbrug) are covered in snow. On the right is Zadelstraat. Fotos above of Utrecht Oudegracht along the Lijnmarkt taken from Maartensbrug, this is near the Dom and Vismarkt. Oudegracht is the most popula...

Against all the ANWB and KNMI weather advice (including the Dutch father who frantically called the Dutchman) NOT to travel by car, we hit the highways to Germany last Sunday! The whole journey back and forth was an experience in itself, perhaps much more impressive than the Christmas Markets in Cologne, lol. Still in the Netherlands, driving on the A2 highway in Utrecht, the snow has caught up on us but there is no stopping, there is no turning back... we are on our way to the Kerstmarkt =) Due to the snow, traffic has built up on the A12 highway to the direction of Arnhem and Oberhausen (Germany). Arriving in Germany, this is nearby Dusseldorf area, packs of snow on the highway. The no-speed limit 3-lane autobahn of Germany have become a 60 KM/per hour drive. Check out the heavy counter traffic too. Here is our driving timeframe: We left just before 11AM in Utrecht and arrived in Cologne past 3PM. The drive could have been an easy 2.5 hours. Going back was worse. ...

In English meaning feasts, parties or just plain get-togethers with booze. Ah, we are indeed back to that time of the year when the holiday season calls us to party! That means non-stop attendance of gatherings since Friday last week, at least for me. Before I realized, the weekend flew out the window so quick. Monday came and I found myself sitting, and brooding a bit in the conference room during our early Monday meeting at work wondering why I was there when I thought yesterday was still Friday, lol. These days, I am coming home late and sleeping in the next day only to wake up for the next party. UGHHHH. I am not a party beast so this is really taking a toll on my selfish ‘me’ times. I have here a few fotos of the boat ride during our Christmas party at work, after that we had a comedian, and a magician who took me as his greenhorn subject, entertain us at a restaurant near Leidseplein. Below are also some fotos of my dinner last night with a very good friend Herr Philippe whom I...

Many not so nice things have been said and done about Rotterdam—‘lelijke stad’, industrial city, ‘just’ modern boring buildings, ‘ongezellig’, there is no real center, no character, so un-Dutch and the Nazis bombed the city mercilessly during World War II which culminated into the Dutch surrendering to the Third Reich. Much of Rotterdam did not escape the war; it was destroyed and the city had to be rebuilt. Gone are the pretty gabled old Dutch houses, the real Rotterdam is gone. Because of this, the image of the city have always struggled. It was so bad that local tourism launched several campaigns to promote it years ago hoping to change its representation to an inviting, hip and trendy place to be. Rotterdam's modern shopping center in the underpass on a rainy Saturday afternoon. If there is abstract art, there is abstract architecture. Piet Blom's (Dutch architect) Cubic Houses (Kubus Woning) - these are real apartments with real people and families living here, and one...

Or in English--Castle of the Moors, built around the 9th century by the moors or Muslims of Northern Africa from Berber and Arab origin as they were once called. Portugal and the south of Spain was the notable Al Andalus (from the Arabic word, Atlantis), part of the Iberian Peninsula occupied by the moors some 800 years ago, and the cradle of Islamic learning, and leading cultural and economic centers of the Mediterranean basin during those times. Castelo dos Mouros This is a 'zoom' foto of the castle ruins from my hotel room balcony. My camera is old tech now, I need to buy a new one soon. This visit is never perfect without a souvenir foto of me! I managed to find a spare hair band to tie my hair from the crazy wind. The castle is my beautiful view from my hotel room balcony. I was lucky enough to have a room that looks up to the romantic castle ruins. When the hotel manager asked me, per email, if I wanted an upgrade to the valley room, I hesitated...