TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

After blogging weekly for Expatica early last year, which then turned into a monthly update, I am now blogging for them as a Guest Blogger, which is more like an every few month blog posting. Given the fact that I have my own busy yard to tend to, the schedule is just perfect. Expatica also have new expat bloggers in the Netherlands. You can read their stories by clicking on the Dutched Pinay logo below the chatbox. And my newest blog entry in Expatica is about the strange behavior of the Dutch and what they meant by fresh bread. To read the article, go here: Don’t freeze my bread! This is our frozen sliced bread inside the freezer. Come Monday is Pinksterdag (Pentecost), 2nd Pentecost Day that is, ergo no work. This weekend is another one of the long series of weekends here in Europe, albeit the last long weekend for us here in the Netherlands since the next holidays will be 25 and 26 December, Christmas Days. I think I have written a few times in this blog that religious holidays in ...

“Without a doubt, when I came back from my business trip Saturday evening, the Dutchman announced that tomorrow Sunday we are going to the Kaapse Bossen [in English, Cape Forests] for his sister’s birthday bash. The Kaapse Bossen is located in the south of Utrecht province, between Doorn and Maarn. Ah, the news echoed like a beautiful song in my ears... I love walking in the fresh autumn forest. Many Dutch nature parks have a sundry of walking routes. I love feeling the abundant fallen leaves, now in hues of bright yellows and oranges, while they make squishy noises beneath my feet. I love harvesting nuts from the forest floor. Picking interesting looking twigs and leaves too and putting them into my basket for accessory alibis that I can later use in decorating the home. I love looking out for uniquely shaped and colorful mushrooms to photograph. Oh, I love the silence. It’s like a gentle melody that calmly soothes and caresses our stressed earthly system.” To continue reading the ar...

“Being a size 34-36 with a 158-centimeter figure stretch, is surely a problem in giant populated Dutch land. I rarely find jeans, or any pants for that matter, that fits the length of my lower limbs. If they are short pants, they would look like I’m wearing the Bermuda length. If they are Bermuda short pants, they would look like I'm wearing Capri pants. If they are Capri pants, they would look like full-length pants on me. Only thing is, the cut doesn't look right. Such trouble, these pants just do not fit me - lengthwise! Buying jeans in this country, for midgets like me, is down right demoralising. These are the times when I desperately wish to be at least 5 centimetres longer.” To continue reading the article, please click: Expatica: They just don’t fit or click the Dutched Pinay logo on the side bar just below the chatbox. Tags: Expatica Main , Expatica Netherlands , Netherlands Expat Blog

This blog entry in Expatica was dated 10 August 2006. As the Netherlands is strategically located in the heart of Europe, the country deserves a nomination as the perfect home base when travelling to other European cities, villages and islands. And because of this, I delight. I delight in the idea that I can explore another country with just a car. I delight in the idea that the rest of Europe is just one to three hours away by plane. I delight in the idea that I can experience another culture so easily and so nearby. I delight in the idea that I can travel back through time and history when visiting these places. I delight in the idea that I can always have a weekend escape somewhere in Europe without costing me an arm and a leg. I delight in the idea that the Europeans themselves are very passionate about travelling, hence the wide array of attractive holiday packages available at my fingertips, the cut-throat competition that helps bring down the prices, and the scores of last-minut...

That afternoon I came home sweating profusely like a pig. I just had to do something. I feel like I am losing my sanity from the heat. Thirty minutes later I heard a turning of the key sound coming from the front door. “Oops... ” Chuckles the Dutchman with a sneaky grin displayed on his mouth as he walks into the living room. “Am I lost in a nudist camp?” “Oh yeah, you bet you are!” To continue reading the article, please click: Expatica - Heatwave or click the Dutched Pinay logo on the side bar just below the chatbox. P.S. The heatwave is over!!! And as expected, the Netherlands is back to normal weather programming --- cold, gloomy, windy and wet. It might be strange, but I am actually V-E-R-Y glad. This tropical duckling has really become Dutched. Temperature watch outside: 15C Tags: Heat cools ardour in Red Light District , Heat blamed for nursing home deaths , Expatica Main , Expatica Netherlands , Netherlands Expat Blog

“And, when it's a hotel type of holiday with inclusive continental breakfast, the Dutch, and I am not joking, will bring their own supply of morning rituals. ‘Did you just see that?’ whispered the Dutchman, secretly nodding at me to look sideways at the family beside us. ‘Oh wow yes, a block of Gouda cheese that you can only find in Holland!’ Sitting on top of the table a few meters across us was a Ruijter chocoladehagelslag [chocolate sprinkles]. ‘Someone brought hagelslag too!’ blurted out the Dutchman, trying hard not to laugh and choke on the bread he was chewing. I looked further to the balcony and saw two Dutch women - they too have some slices of ham wrapped in paper, obviously bought in a delicatessen in Holland. You don't see these in the Greek islands, at least in the center since most cold cut meats are pre-packed in plastic. Hmm, is this some form of Dutch ingenuity or are breakfast habits just too hard to break? After witnessing the awakening hotel breakfast events...

“Every expatriate who comes into contact with the average Dutch person has experienced this distinctive get-together etiquettes: the flying three kisses – I believe should be renamed to cheek-to-cheek-to-cheek since the lips point to the air anyway and its just the cheek that touches ground; the dragging Dutch birthday party circle – in which if you are Dutch challenged, you must, from time to time, exert effort to clear your throat so people know that you are not programmed to mute; and well, the one cookie conspiracy - served with your tea or coffee. No one that I know can really explain why friends and relatives greet each other with the flying three kisses and why everyone has to sit in a circle during the compulsory birthday meets. It seems to me that the Dutch themselves have no clue why these peculiar acts have become national institutions, and surprisingly, why they are still adhered to. Well maybe one day the answer will find me, but today, I am purposely here to report about ...

“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...

“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...

“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

“ 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 find it very disturbing that a part of my body, and in this case my most sensitive parts, are hanging exposed just a few inches above the excrement. For the life of me, I cannot get over the idea that it's just a few inches away! I know it's my own refuse but what can I do? Every time I am sitting in there, I feel like I have a dozen black ants crawling frenziedly under my veins. It’s just so icky; it makes me quiver and reach goose bump overdrive.” “There is also another trivial but ubiquitous object I have noticed that can be found inside the Dutch bathroom. I have never been able to grasp the logic of why it's proudly hanging up in there, that is — the birthday calendar.” To continue reading, click: Expatica - My date with the inspection shelf or click the Dutched Pinay logo on the side bar just below the shoutbox. Tags: A closer toilet look (11/2004), Expatica Main , Expatica Netherlands , Netherlands Expat Blog

“We both knew that the time has arrived to take the relationship to the next step and living worlds apart was definitely not the answer.” Click on the Dutched Pinay logo to read the introduction article of Dutched Pinay at Expatica Netherlands - Who is Dutched Pinay? “Essentially, I consider myself a well assimilated expatriate in this country, hence my title, Dutched Pinay, or in other words, a Filipina who has partly become Dutch.” The Dutched Pinay will be writing every week at Expatica about living and surviving Dutch life. Expatica is the #1 English-language news & information source for expatriates living in, working in or moving to the Netherlands (Holland), Germany, France, Belgium or Spain. Expatica publishes eight websites and five country-oriented Survival Guides. More information on Expatica below: Main Expatica page: Expatica Expatica Netherlands page: Expatica Netherlands Expat Column in Expatica where Dutched Pinay blogs: Expat Blog: Dutched Pinay Thanks Cormac and E...