@nnette

We are coming home to Sg

2009-04-05T22:23:00.003+02:00

We= Kirsten and Me

This is scary and took a week... We are coming back to Sg as per Jun 7 because I am starting a new job on jun 8 in sg. I dont have much more details but sander will stay behind while we go to sg first and hopefully he can join us in some months soon.

A lot of uncertainties ahead but am still very thankful.

Magic!

2009-02-16T19:14:00.002+01:00

Why am I blogging ? Cos Kirsten is sleeping now... only 7pm :) and I am waiting for my food to cook. Thank god that he always has his way of making things happen to help us thru some what scary desperate times, giving more courage to face new challenges.

After 5.5 months of rest from work, I did not have the luxury of easing back into action but was swirled right into all the madness and quick pace of life. We dont even have time to plan properly and things just happen one after another. I need to send kirsten off and get to work before 8.30am and leaving a bout 4.45pm to pick her up. I really need to be effective in every min in the office. Then Sander started his travelling last week for a day and the entire of this week. Like all other times I am so so scared each time I am gonna be alone with kirsten but each time she will be extra cooperative and sweet making things easy for me. Today is no exception and therefore I know that i really need to leave it to God's hand and I will be able to survive this wk too!

Story of a (temporary) housewife.....

2008-12-25T00:47:00.002+01:00

Our (not entirely) home made 3 course Christmas dinner.
Why? Because we are cheapskate to pay for festive restaurant price and we dont wanna risk having a crying baby affecting others.

1. Appetiser - Salmon platter (only the christmas tree is home made... hahah)

2. Main - Rabbit!!! hahaha

3. Brownie with ice cream...

Varkenburg - Christmas markt - 17th dec

2008-12-25T00:31:00.004+01:00

Wet but fun day .... nothing much, just shop around... hahaha most things come from China n it feels as if we are back to those chinese market except the prices are in Euros

This is the supposingly singing christmas tree... see the candles on the tree, the move n sing ..... aiyo just a weak effort by the little village to earn some tourist money

A Nativity scene at Christmas mass

2008-12-25T00:28:00.002+01:00

In an attempt to be more active in the catholic church, we gladly let Kirsten serve when invited to be baby Jesus. And eventually we even volunteered to be the Holy Family in the little procession of the nativity scene. I am really glad that through Kirsten, God has opened up a channel for us to be more involved in the church. And even better, Sander (who initially is not very positive about this catholic church) is happily involve and reading the lines in Church. Haha I had to do the least but am seriously glad for this. Don't really know how to describe it but Thank God again for leading our way and doing His work.

Am looking forward to making arrangement next year for Kirsten's baptism when her godfather will come visit us in Belgium

Happiest giggling from Kirsten so far... on this very Xmas eve

2008-12-25T00:19:00.003+01:00

Greetings from den Hollander

2008-12-16T10:21:00.001+01:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I am back...

2008-12-02T12:54:00.003+01:00

... in my pre-Kirsten pants!!! Haha although not all but am still glad. 3 Months!!! Well no more reason for shopping for new wardrobe when getting back to work. Actually I dont even wanna shop cos of this whole economics crisis thingie. For all we know, we both can be out of job tommorrow.

A sad thing to mention today is I lost my happy baby to vaccin #2. Ever since last thur, Kirsten has been grouchy n stingy with her goodmood. We are back to the days that I need to carry her almost the entire day n thus resulting in me sitting behind the computer, typing with one hand n carrying her in the other. She has been sleeping a lot n in panic mood a lot.... urghhhh v draining!

heehee the thought of next month is keeping me alive :)

I AM GOING HOME NEXT MONTH!!!!

2008-12-01T17:09:00.001+01:00

ah... finally I can say this, it is just next month that I will be going home. I am still not so sure about how's life in Singapore with my lil one but I am very certain that I wanna go home!!!

Yippee~~

Good mood yakking

2008-11-23T17:13:00.001+01:00

2008-11-23T17:08:00.001+01:00

Winter wonderland ?? Only if you stay indoor

2008-11-23T16:41:00.003+01:00

As the temperature is getting colder, the clothes / jackets are becoming thicker too. So so, folks in Sg, pls dont complain about how expensive your baby's clothings are... think about my gal's wardrobe cost !! Haha but i am enjoying the process of dressing her up too hahahahah.... So this photo is from last week when temperature was above 0. Doesnt she looks like a little teddy bear?? It is like a dream from my childhood that my teddy bear grows with me... so now i am growing a little stuff toy

Heehee this little cuddly overall is compliments from my SIL. It made its debut this weekend as the snows fall. Yesterday afternoon, when we saw that the sun was shining, we immediately dress her for a walk. But only 5 mins outside and the snow came so it was a very short walk.

As more snow fell today, it starts to accumulate and so instead of dwelling on the cold, I went out to play hahaha.... not far, just on my balcony. Yoohooo My ski jacket is again proving its worth!

View from our window after we play on the balcony :)

Hmm... suddenly thinking about our Harbin trip last yr... will post some photos if i can find it

What is your race?

2008-11-19T18:09:00.002+01:00

When I had to fill up the forms for Kirsten's application to become a Singaporean, I had to ask this question to Sander. However, it sounds like a very strange question to him and he just said he is Dutch, but is that nationality = race? I am not sure of the implication so I left the column empty.

Well, I just realise that whatever I fill in there, the kid will take that as her race as her record in Singapore. So should I fill in Dutch or Cacuasian?

Then again, both of us think that if I am an Asian and Sander is from Europe, shouldn't Kirsten be consider as a Eurasian? But seems that MY identity is being left out from the equation in reference to my kids record in MY country!

Then, in Holland, the law is such that all offsprings from any Dutch person will automatically be of Dutch nationality. So Kirsten is automatically Dutch. Then in Singapore, it is such that it is by application. So, Kirsten will be Singaporean only IF we apply. I am just wondering if Singapore is hard up for people and trying to invite so many foreigners into the country, why don't they make the regulations easier so that any kid of any Singaporean can easily be a citizen. If they make this easier, then at least the kid will have an easy link and may one day choose for herself to make Singapore her home.

We have already fill in a lot of papers as stated on ICA's website, and then now they need the translation of her birth certificate to English. The belgium embassy directed us to get this from our local city hall. The city hall may not not have this service, then we will have to go to an official translator to have it translated and then to get it stamped as certified true copy in various agencies! That is a lot of effort and money required to get the paperwork for my daughter to be a Singaporean, is it worth it ?

I don't know.
I totally embrace my Singaporean identity but having to go through so much for her, at the end of 18 years, she might just choose to give it again. hahaha.... anyway, the Baby bonus is my answer, I will definitely try harder to establish her links to Singapore for now.

Home alone for the entire week

2008-11-16T21:06:00.002+01:00

Today is the start of another scary week. Sander is off to Denmark for a week of training. After sending him to the Schipol airport in Amsterdam, I drove home alone with Kirsten for 1.5hr. This is not her first long journey but its my first with her. Fortunately she was very cooperative.

Kirsten has really been an amazing baby. She has her difficult moments but when we need to go out, she is often very cooperative. So far we managed to stay over at my MIL, attended a halloween party and the last weekend we also managed to stay over at a latino fren's place for games night. She is quite a charmer when we are out and managed to win over the heart of quite a few people and thus allowing more names on our nanny back-up list :)

Aiyo but for my lil gal who loves milk so dearly, she has not been drinking much over the last weekend. Each feed has become shorter and yesterday evening, she only drank half her usual and puked out half of whatever she drank. But she was in fairly good mood and managed to sleep on her own and didnt wake up in the middle of the night. Aiyo so 'ma fan' , on one hand I am worried that she is too 'pang pang' but on the other hand worried when she has such unusual behaviour. Urghh.. really not looking forward to tonight's feed. Especially without Sander home this week, I really dont hope for surprises.

Anyway, since the ang moh way is to let the kid sleep in their own room, as per last weekend, we shifted the cot to her room. Surprisingly Kirsten managed well on her own. In fact it was us who felt a bit empty in our room when she 'moved' out. Wondered how my mum felt during those numerous times when i moved out, to the hall, to shanghai n now here... Really strange n mixed feelings.

Kirsten is now able to smile more frequently its easier to identify her mood /expression. Her motor skills are still not developed though. She can kick very very well but still too lazy to use her hands at all, thus not a slight interest in reaching out for her toys. She kind of settled herself into a routine, sleeping from 11pm -7am with a small panic attack to search for her pacifier at 3+am each night. With the quick feed at 7am, she can then continue sleeping till 9+am before the entire day routine starts. We are really quite pleased with this pattern as it allows us to be quite rested on weekend especially. Aiyo but time really flies and almost 3 months since I stopped working and don't feel that I have 'done' anything sort of feeling. Have listed some things I hope to do before the year run out and hope that I will be successful.

Answer to the previous post

2008-11-16T21:01:00.002+01:00

From the left, 1st, 2nd and 5th are gals. For some reasons, all the boys in this group doesn't seems to have a lot of hair.

Yup, the 5th is Kirsten!

7 lumps of things

2008-11-05T11:44:00.002+01:00

This was taken a month back when we attended the pre-natal class gathering. Here's a little quiz
- Can you identify which is kirsten?
- There are 3 gals amongst the 7 babies, can you tell the gals from the boys?
(Clue : The amount of hair)

Kirsten is the youngest and even being half asian, she is not that smaller that the rest :) anyway it was super funny making that photo. I hope some one else will have a better version and I will try to upload it if I receive it.

I miss my friends...

2008-11-03T13:51:00.002+01:00

Reading Jocelyn's blog today really really make me miss my friends... In fact as people are getting older I think we are all getting more n more sentimental. We recently had a conversation with a friend and discussing about home trip and he was saying he doesn't really feel as if he has a hometown anymore because only his parents n the house is there but everything else is different as his friends had moved all over the place. Sander's situation is similar and whenever we return to Alkmaar, we only have his parents to visit and all other friends have moved out and we don't have someone that we can just call up n meet for a cuppa coffee.

I'm thankful that I have a larger pool of family n friends in Sg that I think I will at least for a very long time still feel that Sg is a Home that I look forward to returning to !

9 more weeks to go!

The moments that parents are living for...

2008-10-31T16:28:00.003+01:00

Or at least I think ... This is one of the first few smiles to papa

Sleep...

2008-10-21T10:10:00.002+02:00

Sleep... is a luxury ever since the baby intrudes into our lives. Unlike many peers back home who had the luxury of help from confinement lady, I started taking care of Kirsten since Day 1 and Sander had been good in taking his quota of the weekend nites. We had always been quite happy with Kirsten as she is bigger, drinks a bit more milk and had been cooperating quite well... without colic n other annoying stuff, only occasional irritating nites.

Last week, she progressed to be able to sleep till 5+am and ability to self entertained on the playmats. Urghh but we were happy too fast. Ever since Sunday, she has put on her infant irritating mode once again. Cannot be left alone for a single moment, unable to nap completely at all, wakes up at 3am ..... urghh n forever hungry again ! Probably due to the stupid growth spurt which is not suppose to due until 3 wks later!!!!

Just managed to 'bluff' her into a nap by putting her on my bed n sleeping with her ( and i start to hear her cry again!!!) Aiyo eh.... am so bored facing her alone at home!

K ... have let my frustration out n its time to get back to my reality :(

Amazing gadgets.....

2008-10-16T22:22:00.003+02:00

All those bloody babies gadgets are sooooo expensive!!! But I am really appreciating the amazing time they had brought about... especially now that Kirsten has grown a little more to be able to appreciate

Cot Mobile- that this is amazing... she can stare at it daily and throw to make herself giddy and go to sleep. but it only works in the evening

Rocking chair - as long as I keep the vibrator on, she can nap in them for quite a while, giving me some time to clean up the house or just to grab some food during the day

And this is my favourite... the play mat! It has all the sound n lights and noise and toys that help me to play or should I say entertain her.....well I am not creative so toys certainly help **hint hint**

My growing gal....

2008-10-16T22:04:00.003+02:00

The silly papa is playing the usual of trying to 'throw' her around and by chance we realise how much stronger is her neck then we thought

Through week 6- 8 , we are gradually propping her up and trying to let her balance and sit.... not for long though with the bear.

So much seems to have happened. Sometimes it feels so quick and sometimes I wish it can go quicker, cos how can it only be 6 weeks???!!! how much more 'torture' we have go through??!!

It is quite unbelievable of how much she has grown. Weight wise, she is already up to 4.65kg and she is stronger by day. We are enjoying every (non-poop and non-crying) moment of it but the greatness of parenthood has yet to sink in with us. We are admiring that she is becoming cuter by day but we so wanna stuff her mouth up in those crying nights... hahaa we have yet to do it :)

One month and on...

2008-10-06T16:49:00.002+02:00

Time really flies and Kirsten is more than a month old and my mum has also gone back to Sg over the weekend.

Today is the first day I am alone with her and Sander is travelling so that will be >50 hours of just me with her alone. Really hoping that she will be cooperative .... and she has been for the past 10 hours and thus am able to log on to the computer.

I love my little gal and the attachment to her is growing by day as she gets more interactive and aware of us. However we are still not crazy over her and we certainly hope that things stay that way. I'm thinking that cos we are alone in Belgium and do not have the peer influence to settle us into the "greatness" of parenthood feeling but Sander actually felt that the many non-parent frens here help to remind us of life without the kid and be ourselves.

Anyway, just keeping my finger cross that lil gal can continue her good behavior of today :) n praying for the patience and strength for the upcoming days and months

11 wks countdown to singapore!

Demand greater than supply!!!

2008-09-15T15:23:00.003+02:00

My lil hungry hippo is ever hungry!!!

Within a week of coming home, she had gained half kg and she is currently at 3.66kg! Ain't she getting more chubby. Last thursday, the midwife who visited advised that we should stopped giving her the formula add on for night feeds saying that her weight gain is "on track".... haha did she mean too much ?!!

And since my lil silly gal gradually knows how to suck better, we decided to reduce her formula feed n even put her on the breast for the middle of the night feed. Aiyo but hor... this is quite a serious mistake, we used to be able to have 4+ hour of sleep and now, every stretch is only 2 hours!!!

So so, how how ??

Is the health of baby or our sleep and sanity more important??

Recount of the long long day....

2008-09-06T17:42:00.004+02:00

Thought that I should really write down the horrible long day to remember as many times friends give very brief details of the main events of labour but leaving out many details of it. I thought I had attended the class and asked enough questions to friends but still only to find many surprises on the actual day. So here it is...

- We made the appointment with the gynae to check in to the hospital on 27th Aug @ 9pm for induction since I was getting sick n uncomfortable and all. And although the baby was in position since weeks ago, the cervix doesn’t seems to be dilating enough to have labour anytime soon.
- So the midwife did checks of BP, baby’s heart rate and cervix and decided with the gynae that we should start the process at 12midnite
- At 12, the midwife inject a tube of stuff into my ass to clear the bowels. I was supposed to hold for 5 mins or as long as possible. So, and of course as expected, I was running (really running) to the bathroom with couple of mins
- Then a pill was inserted into the cervix to try to dilate it. We slept thru most of the night except to be disrupted with a couple of check on the progress.
- At 4 am, another pill was inserted as the progress was not ideal.
- Then at 8am, the water broke by itself and contraction gradually sets in…So, it was good and we were on course to have a natural birth. Oh another not dignified thing to note, I was on a super big pad and still dripping all the time… I kind of lost the feeling if there were any pee that could accidentally slip out at the same time… anyway very wet! Eeks!
- 10am – dilation of 3cm (still good though slow) and I was coping quite well, breathing as I was supposed, bouncing around the exercise ball and eating my breakfast. The ball really helps since I hated lying on bed as it gives me backache as well
- 11am – dilation was still at 3, so it was too slow, and the midwife suggested to give me a IV drip to speed it up. So we said ok
- Contraction was too much and I went into the birthing pool. It is basically a big bath tub fill with warm water to soothe the contraction…. For those ladies who think this is a great thing that is not available in Sg, there is really nothing much you are missing out on. I still have to use the breathing to counter each of the contraction. And the fact that the pool was so big, I didn’t manage to find a comfortable position for long. For record sake, I did think of going for epidural immediately but since the pool was available, I thought there is no harm trying so to be able to tell the gang back home about the experience… and it was such a bad choice I think.

- 12 noon – I decided that EPI is my choice after all. So I got out, dried and was given another stronger drip to get ready for epi….and the anaesthetician was suppose to arrive in 15mins.
- 15 mins turned out to be 1+hour!!!! And that was the most horrible part of the entire process!!!!!! Sander was patiently giving me massage, feeding me with water and stuff and I couldn’t talk at all. I feel bad that I was feeling sensitive and in case he touch me on the wrong spot and I can only shake him off instead of telling him properly. He was pestering the midwife for me and they were all trying to make me more comfortable since they have no idea where the damm doc is!
- When the stupid anaesthetician finally arrive, he kept talking non stop which was really irritating. He chatted happily with Sander while slowly administering the epi. Bending over and not moving was extremely at that point of time as I was trembling a lot. There was certainly pain from the needle but comparing with the pain of the contraction, it was bearable.
- Life was not beautiful immediately after epi. I still felt the pain for 15 mins before the effect kicked in. Unfortunately after about 15 mins, the contraction was too strong that I had to give myself an extra push of it.
- After knowing how the med works, life was again ok and guess what… I NEEDED FOOD!!! Haha… through the whole process I remember asking for food for quite a number of times and even after labour, that was the first thing I needed!
- Well, things were calm for the next few hours n I even slept while the midwife check on me every now and then.
- Expected popping time was about 7-9pm . Then suddenly at the 5pm check, the midwife said she is ready! And they immediately call for the gynae. So all was set up for the pushing…oh , and I almost forgot, the inserted something to my pee hole to pressed on my bladder to clear all the residual out to get ready for the pushing… aiyo very no dignity again needing help to do the basic of peeing

- The first few push was difficult as I still couldn’t feel my muscle from the epi effect. Then gradually getting the grip of it. And Sander was doing a live commentary of what is going on below while I channel all my energy to pushing. As I slowly regain my senses, the pushing became more effective and within moments, her head could be seen! And then the gynae had her hand ready to receive and then suddenly she was making a lot of movement and I continue the pushing. After that only did I realize that she had given me a cut as the pelvic thingie seems to be tearing.
- Anyhow, once Kirsten is out, she started crying and they immediately wrap her in a cloth and brought her up onto my chest. It was an amazing moment when I first meet this thing that has been growing in me and it was amazing how she stopped crying when I grabbed her on my chest. She looks like an alien with all the blood n white stuff but she is beautiful to me.
- After some moments, the midwife offered Sander the ‘scissors’ to cut the umbilical cord. Very calmly, he took it over and cut it!!! I am so proud of him!!! We had this discussion before and he said that he does not want to do it but he did it!!!
- They took Kirsten away for some cleaning and measuring while the placenta was being delivered and I was being stitch up. I even asked to look at the placenta to know about the thing that has been feeding my gal for the past 9 months. Then the midwife cleaned me up and pushed us all back to the ward.

A lot of focus was of course given to the little one in the days after. However I was still suffering in pain. Had to eat all sorts of things and do more of those no dignity things for the road of recovery. Eg, drinking glucose stuff to build on the iron , drinking stuff to soften and help the bowel, using antiseptic on the wounds, the midwife checking on my placenta and stitches, eating painkiller ….. urghhh I had been fortunate to be healthy for most of my life and never been popping so many medicine and stuff before!

This long entry is to help those preggy fren to be better prepared and not to scare you ok :) I know as much as I hated those moments, I know I will like to repeat it all over again if given the blessings....

Finally here is the happy moment, our first family photo

Hopefully this is the last photo of me being fat....

2008-08-17T12:34:00.002+02:00

Taken yesterday when some frens came to town and we walked them thru Antwerp.

Things I have been doing for the past week (s):

- Drinking Rasberry tea faithfully every day

- Climbing the stairs 5x each day (we live on the 4th floor)

- Doing my set of squarts

- Helped out at children's church 3xmorning

- Walk >30 mins each day

- Played my Dance dance revolution yesterday !!!

Still.... there is no sign of my little gal

Too depressed....

2008-08-17T09:57:00.006+02:00

I know it has been an awfully long period since I have last blogged but it is simply too depressed to do so!! Arms need to be more stretched when trying to type, tummy getting bigger by every day:(

Anyway here's the quick summary :

Last Sunday
My yummy Gado Gado dinner last sunday prepared by Sander... haha as long as the Dutch have it in the instant pack, he can actually cook it!! The taste is ok...at least a bit similar to the real thing

My Birthday
Received my present in the morning, flowers in the afternoon and my evening present did not arrive!!! hmmm n it is not even ready til now... Anyway we still manage to go out for some nice dinner.... a quiet one!

*Sigh this is the first day that I stopped working and Sander did not even take a day off!!! His whole idea was to save the leave days until Kirsten is here!!! Urghhh I know where my standing is already ~~~~~

Appetiser of salmon and the interesting beef carpaccio with the secret sauce

Yummy mussels and lamb chop

Desert : haha too tempting and forgot to take photo :)

Statistics...

2008-06-17T15:27:00.003+02:00

I finally went to my gynae again after a long 2 months!! So this is the update of my little gal @ 29wks from the limited 5min scan picture.

Est 1.39 kg ; head already down ; legs are still long ; head is not round at all n nose very high n I just hope its not overly pointed

Conclusion : My supposingly pretty gal still looks like an alien to me because too many of the obvious characteristics from the husband!

The battle begins...

2008-06-09T21:09:00.002+02:00

The battle of mummy vs the gal has began... haha probably just like the forever love-hate relationship I share with my mum, I am starting to struggle with little daily fights with my little gal.

Round 1: Belly button @ Wk 28
From wk 24, when I felt strong kicks from the little tyrant, I have a feeling that she has been trying to kick my belly button out... to date, fortunately, it is still in... so temporary I win... but am living in fear that her ploy will succeed soon.

Round 2: Leg cramps
Since last wk, I am having leg cramps every nite. It was so bad that at the first time, I screamed n hit sander so hard that he managed to wake up, switch on the lights put his hands on my legs in an attempt to help to massage n..... fall asleep on my leg! haha
Anyway since last Fri, I have faithfully do some leg stretching exercise before sleep and leg cramp hasn't pester me... so so , if i'm hardworking enough, I will win this round too!! hmm... will certainly try to perserve for the sake of my beauty sleep

Round 3: Quality sleep.... zzzzzZZZzzz
I dunno whether I have a soccer plyer or a boxer or whatever she is.... she certainly wins this round! Every night after my dinner, it is her play time, she starts moving n moving n moving n at bed time, it is peak time... soothing music, talking from the dad n hitting from me... all doesnt work !!!!! Sometimes I even feel her in the middle of the nite that I will try to shift position in hope to stop her. Sander said some mornings my tummy will be moving even before I wake up.... Does she ever sleep???????? If she is already such a night owl now, what will happen when she is out???!~@~!@~@

Strike...

2008-06-09T20:58:00.002+02:00

Strike is on-going in the entire Europe now. From Brussels to France to Germany, from truck drivers to fisherman to farmers....they all have their reasons to organise one as they pleased.
Each time it is just another piece of news on TV in other major cities and today it has finally arrived in this ulu village.

The tram n bus driver have decided to go on strike but the problem is that they do not go on full strike but cutting down the service to <50% of the norm. If they stop the service completely, at least I have a reason to not go to work but now, it only means that I take a super long time to commute... Was lucky with my first tram this morning but had to walk 25 mins with my big old belly to the office for the 2nd leg. For the return, just have to be very buay pai seh n ask my boss for a ride.... *sigh~

...just blabbering ...

2008-06-04T12:14:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we attended the 1st session of our prenatal course in Brussels. On the whole it is quite enjoyable to go out and meet other people, something we hardly do here in Belgium. It is organized by the Brussels Child Trust (http://www.bctbelgium.com/) which is quite link to UK and have a lot British woman in it.

Some people were more well-read than others but it was quite a relaxed environment to find out more about everything that concerns my silly gal to come and I think the men have fun too.

I am really thankful to God that my pregnancy has been a pretty smooth sailing one in terms of physical health. Emotionally I may have gone through a lot of roller coaster both because of the environment or the hormones but I am not the only one who is suffering from it. I may have been turned down by my gynae for an appointment but there was someone who was ‘sacked’ by their gynae for asking too much questions~~

So so, again trying to psych myself to be positive …

We also started played silly games with the gal. Since she is kicking so much so Sander try to put hot mug on my tummy and she kicked at the spot that the mug was. Unfortunately, she doesn’t quite response to cold things. Haha… maybe it is just coincidence but we need to keep ourselves entertain as well.

Loss of patience...

2008-06-03T11:11:00.003+02:00

Last week, I was really frustrated by quite a couple of things (stupid bank / insurance / garage) and I thought I should start writing a series for people to know that the life in Europe isn’t as beautiful as imagination. As I was halfway through writing the encounter with the bank, I chance upon an article of “Cultural shock” published in one of the expat baby community magazine. I then started to reflect on myself thinking that it was my own fault for having the wrong expectations and stuff that’s why I don’t like being in Belgium. So I stopped my writing.

However yesterday I was so pissed off by my gynae that I really need to complain!!!! 2 wks back we missed our appointment for 2 reasons. First she has scheduled me in 3 wks instead of the regular 4 because she was going on holiday. Then in midst of the passing of Opa, we also didn’t recheck until the day that we thought we had our appointment and to turn up at the clinic to realize that it was closed.

Nobody ever call us to ask why we were not there. We then immediately call back to try to re-schedule for the next appointment. The gynae was of course not in town and I had to do the scheduling with a temp clerk who cannot even speak English. Nevertheless, I managed to get an appointment for 16 Jun, being the earliest possible slot possible and was told that the doc will be back on 6 Jun. Sander and I thought we can definitely get an earlier appointment after we speak to the doc when she returns.

Yesterday evening, as I was going home late, I saw that the clinic is open. So anyhow, I popped in and try to reschedule my appointment. The nurse was understanding but said that the schedule is really full until 3 wks later. So she thought of slotting me in as one of the last patient on wed. She specifically ask if I had any abnormal discomfort and my EDD and she will ask the doc to see what she can do. After consulting with the doc, they decided that I should keep to my Jun 16 appointment since they don’t feel any need for me to have a checkup any earlier. And then they even said if I feel any discomfort, I should just go to my family doctor and they will not schedule me for any earlier!!!!!!!

As much complain as I have for Belgium, I think the health care is cheap n relatively good. But service is again a word that you can never find anywhere in here. Only 3 more months to go, I still have no clue of whatever is going to happen. Today again, did not manage to get any seat on the tram and had to bulldozed my way all the way to the back for the last seat!

So so, for all those out there who think that Europe is all so wonderful and rosy, these are just some examples.

The Common Language

2008-05-18T19:33:00.003+02:00

Just last week, I was lamenting about the complaint that was received from the IL on language issue. And over the last couple of days, new light has been cast on the same topic.

Although I know that Sander’s family are / were Dutch-reformed Christians, I do not really understand what is different with their way of serving since most of them stopped going to church some years back. Some weeks back when visiting his opa (grandfather) I was happy to observed that that the bible was lying open on the table. I did not have any particular strong feelings at that time.

Opa’s passing on last Tuesday night was a surprise for the whole family. And Wednesday was strange and busy for the family, trying to figure out what are the procedures to follow. Sander was instructed to take care of the church reading at the funeral. It was the first time I saw my man picking up his bible and reading it intensively.

He was upset!

He cannot understand why such a sad passage was chosen. Apparently, Opa had written a short note in an envelope to instruct for this reading at his funeral. In order to share the doubt of Sander, of course I had to pick up my English bible to read for the same. Immediate I realized that page was classified under “Yearning for God amid distress” At that moment I felt the connection with Opa and the pain he was suffering in those last days. I felt an instant relieved and happiness for him that his prayer has been answered. It feels great to be able to have the common language to understand this kind old man despite the fact that I did not have and will not have any more chance to have a good conversation with him.
And reading through the order of the funeral, I may not understand the entire content but I understood the readings and more importantly the session will be ending with a “Our Father”.

I had always enjoyed being a Catholic due to the “global membership” that I had enjoyed. I was able to walk into a mass of any language and able to follow through majority the sequence and enjoy the presence of God. Today I felt the even stronger power of His language to bring me closer to Sander’s family.

Today is holy trinity and in the homily, the priest mentioned the famous John 3:16. I was again reminded that I will have a chance to meet Opa in time to come and my only wish is that Sander will be there too.

Psalms 42
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, "Where is your God?"
4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God,with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. 5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help 6and my God. My soul is cast down within me therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me. 8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfullybecause the enemy oppresses me?" 10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, "Where is your God?" 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.

Wk 24 - Westvleteren, Flanders, Belgium 19th May

2008-05-17T20:24:00.003+02:00

There's hardly much to see in Belgium itself, so this is one of the rare days that we are tourist within this country. Basically it is a 3.5hr round trip for 2 cups of beer. It is a simple monastry in the middle of nowhere where monks dedicate their lifes to God and brewing of beer to keep a living. http://www.sintsixtus.be/eng/europa.htm

Behind the monastry, this is a very nice and serene place dedicated to Mary.

Am trying to show off my tummy and embrace the fat image... There are still some of the baggy cut non-preggie clothes I can wear but they sometime have one or 2 seams that are on the tummy or just not meant for preggies and may cause discomfort after some hours. So everyday, it is a battle of comfort vs vainity!

Since I cannot have the beer so I had a nice warm apple pie with ice-cream... hmm how not to get fat ?

Wk 24 - Cologne, Germany 17th May

2008-05-17T17:58:00.006+02:00

On these days, europe is quite nice and but unfortunately days of blue sky and sun is not permanent here.

Hmmm Who do you think have a bigger tummy ?

Anyway Cologne was really nice. The chapel was huge and impressive an its also the birth place of Eau de Cologne at the address of 4711...

@ 5 months

2008-05-01T13:35:00.003+02:00

These were taken last weekend when we drove to Luxemburg.

Gradually into hibernation....

2007-12-10T09:29:00.000+01:00

Just realised that its a long time since I posted anything. As winter approaches, I am just sliding into hibenation mode! A quick note of what had happened over the last month

- Had our house warming party which ended with a fight of 2 silly dutch and 7 people crashing over at our place
- Went to London as a part time baby sitter for a weekend alone while my parents in law visited Antwerp and realised that I really dont like cleaning my house
- Had Sebastiaan and Wil (Dutch who used to stay in Sg) visiting us on a weekend and we had a great party at Marcin's (Polish) housewarming

- I cycled (for the first time in 4 months after getting my bike) to my little neighbourhood centre to shop for presents for sinterklass because the silly husband was out on Biz trip to Moroco and parked the car at the office!
- Went to SinterKlass party at Rick & Valerie's Apt in Rotterdam. They used to be with us in Shanghai in the last 2 years. Sinterklass is Dutch version of Santa Claus and he is suppose to Sint Nicholas who lived in castle in Spain and every Dec, he will arrive with some black helpers (call black Piets) on a boat to Holland and he will give presents to good kids who places thier shoes next to the chimney.... hahaha not such a creative story ya

- My favourite british friend returned from US expatriation to holland and so again I went to Rotterdam to have dinner with him and others. N my poor other half was battling ZZZ monster when we were driving back.

Ok, so that seems a lot now that I am writing it. I am in my constant fight against winter. Winter makes me lazy and moody and not want to go out but I keep looking for things to do cos if I am bored I will slide into depression again

With Xmas coming, many Singaporeans n malaysian family are going home. I am just going to stay here n look forward to bro, grace n ET visiting after xmas

Out of my mind ?!

2007-10-30T17:29:00.000+01:00

Thursday is a public holiday here and next monday I have another week of training in Copenhagen.

So, tomorrow, we will start driving to Germany, then to Sweeden to visit Sam for the weekend! Must be out of my mind.... erhh but just so that I can tick off another country that we have visited, we will go ! If I had survived Haerbin, do not see why I cannot survive Sweeden?! So, lets hope I survive back to blog the next entry

This week onwards, we have turned back our clock for an hour into winter time in Europe, so for folks out there in Singapore, we are 7 hours different. Really missing home these days with the dark n cold. Today somebody was asking on me on msn "When are you going home?" , meaning what time am I leaving office...

My immediate response was, "I dunno but I want to but tickets are so expensive, so I am still planning.... "

An Adventure to a City.... away from our village

2007-10-22T21:06:00.000+02:00

Finally something interesting happening!!
Last weekend, we went to the city to smell air of crowd,
to drive on the correct side of the road ,
to go to a place where I understand what everyone else is blabbering about.... LONDON!!

N most importantly, it is where a small part of the family is!!

Elena is sooooo cute !!

1. She poo-ed big time in the car on our way out on Sat! N the careless parents didnt bring extra clothes as she has not done it for a long time... so we had to clean her on the road side ! I made photos :) but not supposed to publish them

2. Then we had to babysit her on Sunday morning after church while the parents go to gym. During that, we were supposed to feed her, n change her diapers before we go out.

Urghh... not a easy task for these 2 pairs of untrained hand. She started crying 5 mins after the parents left the house. Feeding was of course then a nightmare!! Started with sander, then pass to me then back to him.... 45 mins to do the job, then she puked out the last monthful, so we had to change her~ Since she cried for such a long time, she was so tired and fell asleep on my husband's chest!! N when he tried to move her.... she will start to cry , so he held her for half an hour for her nap!!

My mum thought that I would be inspired after this weekend but if it taught us lesson... we are of course not ready! Am trying to load her picture but not successful so better not delay posting this entry else its really overdue.

This week, I am in the small village of alkmaar again

Preview of our car...

2007-10-22T21:03:00.000+02:00

In this not service oriented society, they do not know what is one stop service so we have to go to the insurance company, registration board and car dealer seperately!

So, now we are a proud owner of our little car plate

Home

2007-09-25T21:27:00.000+02:00

Been busy with the house... have now officially become slave to our home having to pack n clean n bla bla bla.... Well, it all began when our container finally arrived last monday :) how cool is it to have our very own container driving into the neighbourhood !

Our room and living room ...heehe inspired by Pauline n Mark, we now have a long computer table in front of the TV, able to accomodate my PC n 2 laptops n our gym machine as well. Hope the TV programmes will inspire us to work out more...I know its still messy but will show more complete photos when ready

I will be out to Copenhagen again next week for a week, not my favourite place but well that will give Sander a lot of alone time to finish up the chore around the house like putting the painting up

Opps n found this photo from last month where I attended his company function for the first time as "the wife" The theme was Al Capone , apparently some gangster era in early US so it explains his hat.... n I was forced to go to mango to buy just a nice black dress to attend (Background u see woman in fluffy stuff ,,,that the theme but i totally have no idea)

Thanks Amelia

2007-09-04T20:53:00.000+02:00

Heehee...the goodies are well received since 2 saturdays ago and I had sms-ed you but you probably didn't receive.

Well, its the first package to the mailbox!! yippee~~
And all those letters that came thereafter were not really my favourite...cos they are the electric bills n internet etc...urghh don't think you can imagine, electricity expected to be 70-100euros / month!!

Another finally...

2007-09-02T20:23:00.000+02:00

We move in to our home

Day one - at the begining...Just many bags and packages

At the end of the day :)
We accomplished the Tv furniture and the long computer table(I put it all by myself!)
The main wardrobe is 10x more complicated than we thought... also because we bought it from a neighbourhood store n the instructions are not as clear as Ikea's... so its really like our biggest challenge

Day 2 - Finally the wardrobe start to take some shape... n by night (look at the window) it is completed!!

And a peep into our store room
Our washing machine n dryer stacked in the cramped corner
And our endless of shelves and the mega freezer. Initially I couldn't understand why is there a need for the freezer but one trip to carrefour, I realised it is quite smart! Cos a lot of stuff are cheaper in bulk, like the frozen veg n meat, buy 2 get 1 free, n so the ah-soh-ness in me immediately decide to max the use of our freezer ...haha

TA DAH*....Finally it is here

2007-08-16T12:50:00.000+02:00

So proud, that is all DIY by us!

Sander & Annette - Our Story
This is a story about us and our journey towards our marriage. At the end, there is a short clips from our wedding day in Holland.

Sander & Annette - Our Wedding Day 1472007
This is a 6mins compilation of the photo highlight from the wedding day in Singapore

All the rest of our 800+ photos from Singapore
http://community.webshots.com/user/sander_annette

Something which I should not have share .....heehee

2007-08-15T17:47:00.000+02:00

Last sunday, Sander abandoned me and went to Madrid for a biz trip. And serves him right that he broke his pants along the way! Erhh... think I need to clarify, he broke it because he stuffed his pockets to full.

So, he had to ask for some thread from the hotel to mend it before going out n Voila~ this is his magnificent work! So proud of him hahaha but I cannot stop laughing about it, especially upon seeing the 'product' when he came back

1. Pink thread!

2. right side was a mess.... then look at the left, it actually has some order n pattern to that!

3. His first time with needle n thread! So I guess i do not have to help him to mend his buttons and hooks... or better, he can perhaps help me to hem up my skirt

HAAAHAAAAAAAaaaaa.......

Another receipe....

2007-08-15T17:41:00.001+02:00

Seafood Deluxe Pie!

This is another nice receipe from the cookbook(thks Amelia again) which is like a one dish dinner with loads of potatoe n fish n i improvise by adding veg cos i am lazy

Aiyo, really so houswifey ah... trying to think for new things to cook. So if you have nice receipe please let me know ya

Being a tourist in this City...

2007-08-08T18:35:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday, we went around the city being a part-time tourist in this city. And so we finally got our 1st photo together as a couple here.

Yummy ice-cream on a summer day :P

Then was the angry husband who refuse to get into the picture

House husband...

2007-08-08T18:12:00.000+02:00

Well well well...its such a cool idea, at least for a day

Groceries was done, and preparing for dinner!!

Heehee because he is cooking that is why i can update the blog!

Anyway a picture of where we are staying now.
A damm big company apartment in the middle of the city centre.

And this is also the day of pre-delivery of my birthday present, the bling*bling* thing in the picture....urghh but not the typical *bling *bling of gal's best friend but a BIKE lor

sigh~ I so look forward to taking it out on the road

Another milestone....

2007-08-03T12:53:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow we are going to sign the contract with the landlord for a apt we found from last weekend's search.

So, we are going to have our first home together... erhh a bit strange n yet real. And it is very very troublesome with the local law protecting more of the LL than the tenant n have to arrange for "block account" for the deposit etc

See here if you are interested

http://www.hebbes.be/hebbes/viewimage?adId=3906298&reference=8/390/629/8_-958472277.jpg&adheading=Appartement&sid=10aiUuVUcj503433&pos=24

This damm blogspot is showing everything in Dutch so i dunno how to attach photo... Help ah

By the way, I will start my lesson next Wed!

Gan Jeong spider

2007-07-31T22:22:00.000+02:00

I always thought I am a gan-jeong spider but this week I finally found my match...

Last week, being the first in Antwerp, Sander was living in Rotterdam so that he didn't have to commute the long distance and can settle into in his work. As from the weekend, he moved here to stay with me.

Monday, being the 1st "normal day" as a married couple (ie waking up together n going to work routtine) , we were very careful on Sunday evening... double checking the train schedule and connections, reminding each other the tining of events the next day. So the plan is that 5.20am, he will wake up to shower and at 545 I will make him breakfast of which he must leave by 6 for the bus at 610.

So, in order not to screw up on this very first day, we went to bed at 1030pm...

Soon... the lights of the room came up and then Sander told me, "Dear, I make a very silly mistake."

"Damm it!" I thought, why did I promise to have breakfast with him at such early hour.

Then, he stopped me from waking up to and told me that it is only 1230am!!! He had woke up, showered and prepared the table for breakfast!~ He had woken up without the alarm, just by his body alarm and did the chores but as I said I will only wake up at 545, he was afraid he might be too early and I would be upset that he checked his clock.

He was indeed early, 5 hours too early!!

Antwerp

2007-07-24T15:23:00.000+02:00

I have arrived safely!

Have a lot to say to everybody but dunno where to start.

Anyway this move to Antwerp is hard for my family especially. As much as I tried to keep the going away process simple, it is still very painful. For friends, I will miss out on arrival of many newborns. Arriving here is a very lonely and it has been a long time since I last felt so helpless. Am always telling Sander that he 'deprived' me of a true expat experience in Shanghai since he is always there for me from my very 1st day. And today, I felt so inconfident walking around town.

It has only been a short day but still....*sigh!

My first tram ride...
I know that I am suppose to go north to go to the local town council, then as I was sitting at the tram stop, I thought how stupid are this people to have a big advertisement board blocking the view of the on coming tram. Opps then i realised that the tram was coming from the other way of the traffic. Anyway as the tram arrived, I hop on without hesitation. Asking around how to get the local town council, urghh then i realised i am on the wrong direction. Fortunately, its a loop service so I could stay on the tram and just wasted 10mins since it was nearing the terminal.

Well, well... at the local commune, I was rejected as the whole place was packed with people and had been like that in the last 14 days apparently. Their quota for the day had exhausted and I have to return another day.

I was thinking should I walk or ride the tram? I thought since my last ticket was valid for 1 hour, I will just jump on the same tram service to return to my apt. Again without hesitation, I went on the next tram that came along (from the same stop that I alighted)
Q: Do you realise what's wrong by now?
A: I should have board the one on the opposite direction!!

2 same mistake within the hour... how stupid can I be ?

Anyway I am staying 1st month in company's apartment and am well equiped with internet access, telephone n all. Had made a quick trip to the office and people were really friendly and helpful. So I hope my helpless feeling will be gone quick

Xinjiang...

2007-05-21T16:51:00.000+02:00

I had always been so lazy to update so for now, I must show this last trip in China...Xinjiang!
It is really amazing with so much land and so many people... something really different from the rest of China. Culturally same same but different.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/559078040wGBIXf
Check out the last 100+ photos where we were in Yinin, which is at the boarder with Kazhasztan. There is the beautiful grassland of Nalati which is 2400ft abv sea level and the ili valley with nice lake

Update about my schedule

2007-05-20T16:39:00.000+02:00

With the many concerns about my movement I guess I need to have more details clarified again.

1. Wedding
6th July - it will be in Holland with ROM and small dinner
9th July - Will be back in SIN
14th July - Wedding in Church and dinner!!

2. Work
- Am applying for Belgium permits n visa, n if everything goes right, should be starting there in late jul /early aug
- will try to stay in sg for a little longer after the wedding

Who would have thought that??

2007-05-20T16:11:00.000+02:00

As the day of departure is drawing near and we are counting down by weeks and days, I am actually feeling sad to leave this place. The people, the lifestyle, and the habits we have here. There a couple of things that we are already counting down to, like, the last time that we need to order for water, the last time that we are going to a certain place.

This last weekend, I just have the last team building session in Suzhou. Like all other TB events, I hated it from the start having to do so many of those silly activities that I had done before. But everytime these sessions never fail to let you leave feeling good about yourself and the team. At the final part of the wrap up, I actually feel really sad to leave the team. From 20+ people to 37 people we have today, from the direct group of 6 to 17 to 14 to 7, there are so many different stories going among this group of people that I really think I will miss them. As we often call the newbies 小朋友, they are really just like a bunch of kids that I feel old when amidst them. Seeing how the young fresh grad turning into responsible co-worker; how some simple people are contented with little things; and how some develop into a young manager... aiyo I really feel old! With the great team to support in my good work over the past 2 years, I really dunno how will I be able to achieve more than what I had done. Not looking forward to Belgium but unfortunately it just have to happen.

Sadly but finally...

2007-05-08T06:30:00.000+02:00

I have found a new job in Antwerp, Belgium.

I do not have all the details yet but will definitely share with you all later. This is indeed a difficult passage to write as the emotions are mixed.

+ Happy and relieved that I can start planning my next step and Sander and I will be at the same location.
+ It is a good job with career advancement and development potential.
- Miss home and people at home; no social life for both of us and we need to start all over again
- Inconvenient place without an airport with direct flight to SIN, nearest airport = AMS

Aiyo... really feeling heavy now and don't wish to write further.

Today is Wednesday....

2007-04-28T09:42:00.000+02:00

This is a damm long weekend!! 8 working days in a row!!

All for the May holiday to come.

Anyway good that it gives me a chance to log in a blog here since this site is miraculously working again!!

To update :
1. I am officially an Auntie now :) My sis-in-law gave birth to a girl last month ....ET! cos her name is Elena Thia. Woooohh more reasons for me to buy the nonsensical small little things that i see on the street here . My brother who has always been the sensible one has also turn non-sensical .... claiming that his girl is so beautiful, so clever, so good......

2. 2months countdown to my wedding! I think i have still quite a lot to do but am not sure.... how ah? But really thanks to all those friends n families who constantly been asking me n trying to offer help.

3. Then hor, I am looking for job desperately (but within the organisation) I am in midst of securing something but it is likely to be in Europe so if that turns out true by next week, then I will be moving really soon. So, moving n wedding..... 2 killer at a go! Haha then i will really be stress

4. Finally, I really really miss people at home.... With so many preggies around my group of direct friends, I really really wish I am/will be there. May the God keep the mother and the child safe .

2006-10-07T21:54:00.000+02:00

Sat 7 Oct

I was watching the entire series of Gilmore girls again before coming on this trip. When seeing those cheesy town events of Stars Hollow, with the parade and reenactment of how the town was liberated, I had the impression that it was just part of the silly plot to make the serial more interesting. And guess what, today, everything jumped out from the TV and appeared right in front of my eyes. Starting from yesterday evening, there was band parading the town in rain! And today, there was carnival setup through the city, there was Ferris wheel, army and speed boat activities in the canal and people in costumes on floats and carriages parading around.

We are so used to the Chingay idea of floats going down the 5 or 6 lanes Orchard road but this was big tractors pulling the floats through the tiny townstreet through the city. Initially I was not interested to see the cheesy sights but we ran into Sander's mum and grandpa. Seeing how enthusiastic was a 78 yr old man walking around to get a good position to catch a glimpse of the fun, I cannot resist but felt the urge to join in and so we did! Haha... funny and cheesy but I am starting to feel more for this town of 100,000 people. There are a lot of simple joy especially with the older folks and I am truly enjoying the slow and slightly lazy spirit all around.

Tomorrow, we will return to Shanghai and with the time difference we will be arriving on Monday morning. I will have to plunge into work immediately with a client visit and dinner and presentation on Tuesday already!! Oh man, dunno how I can survive that ....

2006-10-07T20:51:00.000+02:00

Day 8-10 Wed - Fri

We rented a car and went out travelling around to visit our offices in The Hague, Rotterdam and Zeebrugge to meet up with ex-colleagues and meet some people to make sure people know and remember us and hope that it will lay some foundation for our future job search. Anyway we really don't know where we will be after Shanghai. Both of us really quite like the company and will want to stay on but there will be some stringent restrictions which we have to overcome. For eg, he must go back to Holland and I must return to Sg, so we are still trying to figure out the best way to do it without too much sacrificial from one.

And on our way in the Hague, we went by the city hall and presented our documents of all verificaiton of mine and his identity and status and we had gotten our temporary go ahead to register for marriage. They however will take 1-2 months to come back with the ultimate confirmation. So, we have temporarily booked for 6 Jul 07 Friday 1600 for registration (ROM) in the municipality of Alkmaar. We will do a small dinner with friends and famly thereafter. And 14 Jul 07 Saturday we hope to be able to do Church wedding in Singapore and a bigger party with all our international friends and of course people from Sg. Well, this was one of the largest task we had to do on this trip and really thankfully, it went well.

We had managed to squeeze in between one day holiday in Brugge, Belgium. It is another nice cosy little town swamped with tourists. We visited 3 museams, unbelievable right?!! The Beer, Diamonds and chocolate one respectively.... haha how difficult was it? Anyway chocolates are really really nice here and every corner is filled with fresh chocolate smell!!

2006-10-07T11:46:00.001+02:00

Day 6/7 - Mon / Tues

For these 2 days, we were invited by Sander's parents to travel around at all expenses paid. It was really sweet of them and long before, they had enquired about the places we have and have not been around and they planned for the days.

On Monday, we went to Amsterdam and visited the Madame Tussard and took a canal tour. Smell of the big city environment makes me so much more comfortable than in the quaint little village... haha an easy day!

Then on Tuesday, we went to an ancient town call VoleDam. This place has very well preserved buildings and being flourished by tourism, there were many shops with cheesy goods and services awaiting. As we were browsing in a souvenir shop, I saw some cute little traditional costumes for kids in the milkmaid apron etc. I teased Sander about it and said that I want to take a wedding photo in similar! He of course was very very very against the idea and seeing his agony I of course had a good laugh and opps, his mum heard us and thought it was a brilliant idea! She immediately told us that we didn't have to wait that long and we could do it this very day in this town where they offer such services to tourists. And quickly the idea was made known to Henri and they were laughing so happily and insisted that we do it and they pay! With that, Sander could not run further and later that afternoon, we really went to a studio......

What happened in the last week...

2006-10-07T11:46:00.000+02:00

Day 4 - Sat
This is a fun day! First i started with a visit to Mary Borsato shop. Apparently it is the wedding shop in Netherlands. So I went in to try and really saw something which i liked but it was bloody 1600euro! Haha but anyway now i can maybe try to get similar tailored in China with much less.

Then it was a walk around the market, trying all the snacks around n buying so many things from the supermarket to stack up for Shanghai

In the late afternoon, we went to a friend, Mike's house in Ana Paulowna. It is a even more village place 1 hr drive away. Mike moved there because of Audrey, his girlfriend who did not like Alkmaar because it was too noisy!!! Urghhh we think she will simply die if she has to live in Shanghai. Anyhow it was really nice of them to re-do this house warming cum birthday party for us. At there i had also met the big gang of Sander's close friends whom he knew from 7 years back from working with the supermarket. There was Renate really pretty gal who seems deeply loving the guy, Menno, who is doctor in training and doesn't want commitment and wants to go to africa to do research. They were ex and now nothing but still all over each other! Then there was Jolien, the nice little young girl from next door who kept reminding everybody to speak English for me :) then there was Paul whom had visited us in China before already.

It was a not too late party since everybody was showing signs of getting old. haha ... another interesting part of it is Audrey had a lot frens in the neighbourhood who dropped by as well. Many of these people had stayed entire life in this small village and it is certainly different to talk to them

Day 5 - Sun
We came back from the even smaller village to Alkmaar and went straight to town as there were some band performances. Sander played the drums in the band since 8 and only quitted last year when he left for shanghai.

Wow... memories from my good old band days streams back as well. i guess it is really different since we played for school and stopped whenever we left whereas these ppl played for the community clubs and stayed entire life almost. Maybe some of their kids will even join in the same.

Then in the evening, we went to Rody's house. He is living alone, had a bird and smokes in his house ....I fell sick 2 mins of entering his house and my eyes was swollen for 2 days and had a flu... Wat jammer!

My day in the village on the bike

2006-09-30T10:24:00.000+02:00

Day 2 - Thu

My 2nd attempt on the bike and after a few fall, I managed to conquer and jumped on it and riding away. Nice right! Then Sander always make sure that he rides ahead and give me traffic condition and instructions. I gotta say it is pretty nice and easy to ride since there is a dedicated bicycle lane. Errhhh i am however a road hogger! hmmm wh can imagine me being a road hogger on the street of singapore in my parent's mercedes??!! N here I am being a road hogger in the little village of alkmaar in a bicycle. As we cycled into town, heading for the park, I was scared!! Shit, we had to stop at the traffic lights and since I can't even tip toe on that bike, i needed to jump off it. phooo.... it was extremely ugly! Well, so the entire of my day was spent jumping up n down the bike around town. I am not so worry about myself but I am worried about damaging his mum's bike while i jump(aka fall) off.

We went to see the restaurant that we are considering for the wedding dinner. De Hertenkamp it means "the deer camp" is a quint little restaurant especially for functions only, sitting at the corner of a park De Hout, which means "the wood". It is nice that they have a little farm with deers, goats, sheeps, a boar and chickens running around.

Aiyo, then the rest of the day, we just strolled around village centre to see THE wedding cake shop, passed by THE wedding gown shop etc. n yup, the only like one of each of those nice shops around. Ahha and guessed what? There is a Mango ! Heehee at that point of seeing mng, i decided to upgrade the village to a Town :)

Day 3 - Fri
Today, there was a lot of visiting we had to do. First thing after breakfast, we had to visit Op-pa, grandfather. And he had specially requested that we do not all (ie, his mum and older bro) go together so that he can have sufficient attention to give to all. Oh Ya, I had forgotten to state that on Thur evening, Henri had kindly drove 2 hours journey to fetch Gerard, Sander's elder brother, from the home. Gerard is blind and mentally challenged and is currently staying at a home and comes home only once a month. They had specially brought him back this weekend so that we could meet him. Gerard has a super sweet voice and is a huge fan of the Bee Gees. He had gone on national TV, singing competition and performed at concert. He speaks relatively ok English and was able to explained about his likes and dislikes and stuff. Sweet and generally happy person!

Yup, and back to his Op-pa, he is probably the most important person that I have to meet. He stays alone in a block away from Laura. The super enthusiastic old man was standing at the walkway waving to us as we approached. His house was nice and neat and filled with a lot of his hobbies. There was a room filled with model trains, cars and ships, all built by him. There are also painting and cros stitches around the house in which he did it all by himselves. And this strong 78 years old man was also showing off his large jigsaw puzzle that he is working on! Amazing!! And the entire house was filled with a lot of passion! oh, and I forgot to mention to birds n the plants and the countless of photos.

As we were having tea, he showed me his albums of photos of young Sander and the entire family. Not speaking a word of English and with my bare minimal Dutch, we spent the entire hour playing charade. He was a really really warm and kind and gentle old man. I heard later from Laura that he likes me~! ~Phew~!

Another lazy afternoon of just shopping around for wedding bands. N we had raw herring by the tail and Kiplings for lunch. I am a natural fish person, so that didn't scare me too much. Haha and since it was an entire walking day, I am starting to like the little town.

And in the evening, we went to visit his grandma at the nursing home. She is suffering from elzimer and can't really remember things well. When we first found her in her room, she didn't recognise Sander at all and scolded and asked him to go away! After much coaxing from the nurse and prompting about who he is, she finally remembered. However she maintained her fierceful look and kept rolling her eyes, especially whenever I looked at her. Before today, I had always thought that my mum was the master of rolling her eyes, n now i found her match. When Sander told her he was going to marry me next year, she again rolled her eyes and said she don't know me! Haha and of course he tried to introduce me and said that I am a nice girl but don't know dutch. She said it was not a problem and I can learn cos I look smart.... haahaa but all these are of course base on Sander's translation. Through the entire long half hour, there was only 1 smile found on her stern face when she said that she had been married to Op-pa for more than 50 years! And her entire conversation was so much about him! Lovely couple! Even when she loses her mind about the rest of the world, she still remembers him!

And the evening ended with a meeting with the Aunt's family and then followed by meeting a friend Ysbrand over for a beer on this Friday night!

Days in the village.....

2006-09-30T10:14:00.000+02:00

Many of you had probably asked me why i didn't blog for a long long time... I would normally credit it to laziness but most importantly life in a city is not much of a difference. Being right here in the Hollland had certainly stirred up so much thoughts that I need to record here.....

Day 1 27 Sep (Wed)
After an hour of drive, we arrived to Alkmaar (north of Amsterdam) to a quint town to be greeted by a huge red and black soccer stadium standing across the street from the red rubbish incernrator. Then we drove further past the city centre and past some nice neighbourhood and finally arriving at Sander's parents' apartment which really resembles our HDB flat with a carpark in the middle.

Having missed the fresh air of Holland, Sander wanted to walk the dog before dinner and so we did. That damm Chiwawa was not at all friendly to us but since we were bringing it to a walk, it gladly came along. We walked around the block and only 10m down the path, I saw cows n sheeps n ducks n a windmill!!!

"This is a village," I thought and I am going to marry a VILLAGE BOY !!! Aiyo ultimate scary thought!!

N that is not all.... After dinner we were supposed to go to a friend's house for coffee and as Sander had pre-warned me, we were going to get around on the bicycle. His mum had kindly agreed to lend me hers through this period.

URGHHhhhh.... The bike was bloody big! considering that her mum isn't taller than me! I couldn't reach the bike seat with tip toeing and since it was dark, I didn't dare to ride. So, Sander laughing said that it was his fault for over estimating me so offered to bring me along at the back of his bike.

He said, along the way, that he felt the ride was sweet that he could were close and he felt good having me cling on to him so tightly ... poo~ Tian mi mi is a fake and overly romantised movie. Imagine you are cold, can't see the road and trying to balance your ass on that hard seat.....duh~it is not my favourite

As for his family, his mum, Laura, was meeting me for the sencd time so there wasn't much of a problem. Henri, his stepdad, is a nice man, trying as hard to recall his English that was learnt 20 years ago and trying as much to speak to me. The dog, is more his mum's dog, so let's just leave it as it is. Oh, and Mark, his younger brother came with his girlfriend, Amy, to visit. Hahaha .... That girl is even more afraid of the dog than me!! Well, Mark doesn't look as cute in person than on photo.

Another month had passed...

2006-04-09T07:54:00.000+02:00

So much had happened in the last month.　

Firstly, Spring is here and smiles had returned onto my face :)　Ｉ　ａｍ　ｆｅｅｌｉｎｇ　ｈａｐｐｉｅｒ　ｎｏｗ　ｔｈａｔ　ｗｅａｔｈｅｒ　ｉｓ　ｂｒｉｇｈｔｅｎｉｎｇ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅｒｅ　ａｒｅ　ｓｏ　ｍａｎｙ　ｍｏｒｅ　ｔｈｉｎｇｓ　ｔｏ　ｄｏ　

Ｔｈｅｎ，　Ｉ　ｈａｄ　ｗｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　Ｘｉ　Ａｎ　－Ｃｌｉｍｂｅｄ　Ｈｕａ　Ｓｈａｎ　ａｎｄ　ｓｅｅｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｅｒｒａ　ｃｏｔａ　ｗａｒｒｉｏｒｓ．　Ａ　ｖｅｒｙ　ｎｉｃｅ　ａｎｄ　ｉｎｔｅｒｅｓｔｉｎｇ　ｔｒｉｐ！　ｂｕｔ　ｍｙ　ｃａｍｅｒａ　ｆａｉｌｅｄ　ｍｅ　ａｇａｉｎ　ａｎｄ　ｈｅｎｃｅ　ｉ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｈａｖｅ　ｔｏ　ｗａｉｔ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｐｈｏｔｏｓ　ｆｒｏｍ　Ｓａｎｄｅｒ

Now, am trying desperately to plan for something for may holidays. If we don't get out of shanghai, we will probably be driven crazy by those chinese tourist who will flood the city. So still am looking around.

With the weather changing so much during this change od season, people all around are falling ill. I have a cold for 2 weeks almost, not feeling entirely bad but not better kind of situation , quite torturous! then limei n sander too!

aiya, then when i was reading amelia's blog today, realised its all the same things going around even if we are at miles away.

So much now, since today is sunday, its another round of laundry n packing day!!

Finally... again!

2006-03-13T15:59:00.000+01:00

Wow! After such a long time, I am finally able to log in here all thanks to Keyue and her recommendation of http://anonymouse.org/!!

I thought it was due to my lousy computer but apparently in china I think all the blog sites are blocked and the lazy and stupid me took so long to discover the trick… A lot of catching up to do on the rest of the other’s life but am glad that at least I am back in!!

Hmmm.... How does thing work?

2005-10-29T06:56:00.000+02:00

Am still figuring out how to work on this n will try to change transfer here from friendster

.com

2005-10-07T05:41:00.000+02:00