TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Dutchman and I took a boat trip to Parga in mainland Greece and Paxos Island, located south of Corfu Island. Arriving in Paxi—which is how the locals call it, was quite dramatic. In order to get to the island’s natural port, all boats must pass through the strait of Gaios which resembles like a small fjord skirted by 2 islets, Panayia (Virgin Mary Island) and St. Nicholas. This is one of the things I love about the Greek Islands; you can easily take a boat excursion, either privately with your own yacht or a rental, book a boat tour with a travel agency or you can opt the local way by taking the public ferry. Whichever you choose, everything is relatively easy to work out and the sailing schedules are frequent as well during the summer season. As we sluggishly entered and sailed on Gaios straight, the harbour and town of Gaios gradually loomed into view. Beautiful. You know, it is such a great feeling to arrive by boat on a pretty little traditional island such as Paxos. It’s ...

In January of this year Dutchman and I attended a private dinner affair at a fascinating French cooking studio cum private restaurant called Verbijsterend on Herengracht, one of the beautiful main canals that form the historical grachtengordel (canal belt) in the centre of Amsterdam. We were received in the cooking studio with a glass of bubbly and some hors d’oeuvres, afterwhich, we were led upstairs to the beautiful period style room for the seated dinner. This is officially a 4-course meal dinner but I see this more like a 6-course meal, well including the little appetisers that jump started the evening and the coffee and sweets that later closed it. Different kinds of wines were opened in between each dish. I am sorry but I cannot really pick a favourite. Because we were not driving, I indulged and had a few glasses to lift up my spirits, but not too much though that will make me woozy and wobbly in my knees. You see, I need strong knees to walk to the train station. The ...

The Netherlands is one of the very green countries that I know of in the world, with well manicured streets and lawns, and very well maintained infrastructure. The major cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht have a lush atmosphere brimming with verdant trees on the sidewalks and many grassy parks. So despite the horrible weather we have here (like today), there are as well pay offs in living in the Netherlands. We visit Park Transwijk every now and then. I actually used to run here on my own. Unfortunately, I never got to take pictures every time I am in this park. So one weekend in April, we decided to go for a little walk and I brought the camera with me. The park is located a little bit south from Utrecht Centre. It a low key park. There is an animal farm, a children's playground, a lake and a Japanese restaurant in the park. Dutchman and I have agreed that we will have dinner at this restaurant one evening. It has been a few years though since we hav...