TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Every Friday, I go out with a few colleagues for lunch. It is something we’ve agreed on to spend lunch break together, outside of the office, once a week on a Friday. The Dutch way of lunching at work is simply very rudimentary. Bring your own food. I’m afraid to say that lunching the Dutch way is quite boring. The food—it is always the same set of suspects, day in, day out: soft brown wheat bread (boterham) + anything on top ranging from pate to thin cold cut meats to tuna to cheese to peanut butter + milk. So I guess this Friday lunching out is good for a change ;-) The cafe restaurant in the designer hotel, Hotel Lloyd. They have an impressive and interesting bar and a one of a kind lighting fixture, right there in the middle. Two of our regular lunch cafes are the café restaurant at the designer hotel called Llyod Hotel and the KHL koffiehuis along the eastern dock harbour of Het IJ. They are across each other. I like the Llyod Hotel cafe because of its outside terrace. It’s ...

When I came back to work, my colleagues ask me how was Athens. I surprised them and myself when I replied, “I felt like I was back in Manila!” The most popular cart vendor in Athens, the pretzel - Koulouri vendor. This one is taken in Omonia circle where I had a quick lunch before heading off to Acropolis. The weather obviously was very Manila-ish. Hot, sticky, and smoggy. Summer and even autumn in Greece is like the tropics, although during winter, it can get cold and freezing in Athens. The fumes, street vendors, chaos on the streets, noise, rows of buildings one after the other built during the 60’s and 70’s in the city center reminds me of downtown Manila and Cebu, and of course, the eternal traffic pandemonium! The madness on the road that goes on until the early hours of dawn had me in a confused state for a minute. I was sandwiched with a car, a cab, and two motorcycles in a very narrow street while S stood at the other side of the road laughing -- Welcome to Athens! Scenes of...

One thing for sure, no one has been to Athens if they have not visited the Acropolis! This is the entrance to the Propylea (see the unfinished structure that can be seen through the doorway opening), the monumental gateway to the Acropolis and me with the Parthenon as my backdrop. The Acropolis is a must-see must-visit when in Athens. It is identical in status, symbol and importance to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Colosseum in Rome. One of the most important piece of archeological antiquity in the world as its buildings go back 2,500 years (5 BC). ............... This short clip is taken in the Propylea, the entrance to the Acropolis. The climb up to the Acropolis was quite exhausting because I took a different entrance which was farther. In addition, I was still very tired from my late night arrival and moreover, I was developing a cold. With the heat, it was too much for me to bear but I know I could not forgive myself if I did not visit the Acropolis. So I pressed on. Close up of...

The soldiers guards the Hellenic Parliament, the Presidential Palace, and the Tomb of the Unknown Solder. This particular guard just had his makeup retouched ;-) I saw it! Every Sunday morning an official change of guards ceremony takes place in front of the Hellenic Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The parade of Greek guards dressed in their best frilly ABBA-like top impression with matching cheerleader skirts strut their way from the back gates of the Parliament down the avenue and towards the Parliament’s quadrangle facing the huge Syntagma Square. The parade is led by a marching band uniformed in white. Soldier in traditional mainland uniform in front of the Hellenic Parliament, and next foto is the grounds of the Parliament with tourists waiting for the changing of guards on a Sunday morning. The change of guards in front of the Greek Parliament happen everyday but it is only during Sundays when the whole ritual is celebrated with a marching band followed by a unit...

I am now back in the Netherlands and at the airport I was met with the crispness of the cold temperature seeping through the runway tube . Before touchdown the pilot announced it is 10C in Schiphol, a far cry from 30C-35C in Athens by day, and 22C in Budapest. A candid-stolen shot; withdrawing money from an ATM in Athens (the ATM brand is a previous employer). Thanks S! Navigating my way through the crowd in Schiphol, I quickly searched for the nearest toilet. I need to re-touch my makeup as I am heading straight to work in Amsterdam. Although I barely slept comfortably in the plane, luckily I did not have eye bags or dark rings under my eyes. The taxi ride to work was quite interesting. The young driver, who I reckon must be Turkish or Moroccan looked like Jan Smit who did not shave for 2 days. Jan Smit is a (folk-country) singer in the Netherlands who hails from Volendam and is very popular with the younger group. So right I am back and all I hear is the mortgage crisis in the USA. L...

These days I glance at the clock and gasped – it is already 5PM?! Time fly so fast. Unfortunately there are still so many things to do, people to speak with, activities to arrange, meetings to set, information to gather, and so on and so forth. The objective is to catch my short tail end 100x every month. Catching this tail is a challenge in itself as my arms are never too long to reach them unless I do some back breaking antics. There is never, never enough time in this world! With the new CRM system in place at work, there’s more work expected. I have my own targets to meet but at the same time I have to execute, I just realized today, a huge amount of administration work for this new bravura of a system. In my altruistic world, doing admin stuff is every sales person’s nightmare. Why get stuck in administrative chores when the sole purpose of your existence in the company is supposed to chase after the money? Woman, the business. So now I have gym 3x a week, but since last week and ...

Aren’t we glad we went to Texel last week and not this weekend? We woke up this weekend to a gloomy, cold, and rainy day. Saturday was a bit better though, yet you still need a light jacket to make yourself warm and comfortable outside. The Teso boat that sails between Den Helder and Texel Island. Weather news said last weekend was the last warm weekend in the Netherlands, which was more like a catching up really because we never had a great summer. One can count with their hands how many sunny and warm weekends we had in this country for summer 2008. So much for the weather talk, I will write about our experiences in Texel, divided into 2 parts. The first part will be about Den Burg, the capital of Texel Island and De Koog, the touristy town in the west side of the island. For the second part, I will be writing about the little villages in the countryside, Cocksdorp where we stayed, Den Hoorn, t’Hoorntje, and Oudeschild. The birds loved to hung around the boat during the entire sail...