TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

It has been a roller coaster of cold-gloomy-rainy and warm-sunny-dry summer lately. There are days that make you go, aaahhhhhhh..., and obviously, there are other days that make you grunt ggggrrrrrrrr! Nothing surprising really as this is the cross we bear living in swampland with a weather as moody as a woman heavily medicated because of PMS. I hope tomorrow would turn out bright and sunny though. On the other hand, I can’t wait for us to fly to South East Asia for our summer vacation. A few more sleeps and I’m out of this cold and drizzly summer spell. Enchanting and beautifully shaped fortress like a flower, the town Heusden in North Brabant. As it is, this weekend was not an exemption. It was raining all afternoon this Sunday and cold too. Shall I say it was very tempting to stay put inside the house, be lazy, sit all day in front of the laptop and TV, and eat heaps of those forbidden evil fatty foods. Hah, I know all of us are guilty! My waistline has been screaming to my face...

My dazed experience with the enchanting city of Edinburgh was all about work, dinners, booze, work, dinners, and booze. I can fleetingly recall working the whole day each day, running around in my heels, partaking in the ceaseless chains of booze summits all night long until the wee hours in the morning, waking up early the next day, like 0530, and repeating the same schedule for the next 5 days. We were welcomed by a Scotmans dressed in kilt playing the national icon of cultural representation: bagpipes. The 2nd foto is the entrance to the Edinburgh castle and that girl playing the bagpipes is just 14 years old - my client told me (she interviewed her). 3rd foto is the giant Scotsman! Well, he is in stilts I suppose ;-), and as you can see, it was raining. Edinburgh Castle gate - Nemo: Me: Impune: Me: La Cessit. I have no idea what that means. The first day I got to Edinburgh, I remember rushing to Princes Street, the main shopping boulevard located in the center of town. I was lookin...

Just got in today from Edinburgh (Scotland) for work, and although it’s just an hour and a half flight to Amsterdam, I felt like I have this massive cloud of jetlag overpowering me. My almost one week stay in the stunning, yet cold for June, and rainy city was nothing less, exhausting. My mind totally went blank earlier staring at my laptop. Grassmarket, located right behind Edinburgh Castle is filled with stylish, jaunty, and entertaining bars, pubs and restaurants (as you can see the evidence in the foto!). In the evening, and particularly during weekends, this place is a definite must stop. Also a favorite of neighboring locals to stage their stag and hens night/weekends. Because of the hectic work schedule, I only managed to take a few fotos, which is a real shame. I wish I had time to stroll idly in the charming city streets of the old town with high buildings in Georgian and Victorian architecture, visit Arthur’s seat, and take the Stirling-Fort William-Mallaig travel itinerary t...

First Stop: VOLENDAM Not sure where to go in the weekend, a bright idea hit me. I told Dutchman we will go to North Holland province and revisit Volendam. We both have been in this charming fishing village 6 years ago and the visit was actually nice, we were retracing our footsteps... Did we not walk on here? Oh hey, we ate in this restaurant remember? Oh, I was in this shop. The village looked exactly the same 6 years ago. Dutchman scoffed, “If not because of you, I would never ever set a foot here! And now again!” (he does not like villages lol) The epitome of Dutch architectural representation, the mini draw bridge Busy Centrum of Volendam, probably the most popular side trip made by tourists leaving from Amsterdam. Two children playing with the fisherman statue - the kid in blue jacket is sticking his finger up into the fisherman’s nose! Bad kid, he needs a spank, lol. This house has an interesting backdoor facing the main street. Some information of interest: Volendam is a tightl...