Best of Holland (Day 2, 13 May 2012)

Day 2 started with a leisurely breakfast, the spread was thankfully not Continental, there was bacon and eggs. I could live on bread rolls and butter, the ones here were so fresh.


At 9am, we made our way to the Rijksmuseum to see some Dutch masterpieces with a local guide. Before we started, there was a group photo taken which will later be printed for a souvenir. We saw an antique dollhouse and some works by Frans Hals, Vermeer and Rembrandt including the famous 'Nightwatch'. The guide pointed out details and symbols in the paintings that I would never have noticed or bothered to interpret, so that gave me a new appreciation for art and the artists and the hidden meanings in painting.




We had a few minutes of free time before boarding the bus and I used the chance to snap some pictures with a giant 'I am amsterdam' sign outside the museum. Then it was off to Keukenhof so I can now strike one more thing off my bucket list!

I was keeping fingers crossed we would still be in time to see the spectacular tulip fields en route but alas, no such luck, they had started chopping off the stalks a few days before we came. There was only 1 red patch near the Keukenhof entrance...sigh.


Luckily there was still plenty of tulips in Keukenhof, though there were chopped off patches too. But it was enough to make my day. Nick bought a hot dog to snack on, and I had some strawberries and cream while we strolled through the gardens.


I was so busy snapping away and cam-whoring that I didn't get to enjoy the gardens properly, the sun was rather harsh though the weather was cool, between 12-18 degrees celcius. I dragged him to the section overlooking the tulip fields but it was all bare.


Just outside the indoor garden though, there was a big patch of flowers...if ever I am in Europe in April, I will try to come to Keukenhof again, even just for a day so I can see the tulip fields and enjoy the gardens properly. Though we were given about 2 hours, it was a little rushed, especially since the boy insisted on sitting down to eat a proper lunch, while I would have been happy enough to starve so I could take more pictures!




In the afternoon, they dropped us in the town and we had some free time before dinner. We decided not to join the optional tour to visit Anne Frank's house and forego the complimentary hop-on/hop-off bus tour since we had seen or passed by most of the attractions. Instead we went shopping at De Bijenkorf, H&M and Zara around Dam Square and Kalverstraat. Or rather, I shopped and he stood around. I knew that we wouldn't get a chance on other days to shop properly so I grabbed as much as I could!



It was troublesome trying on clothes when I was wearing 3 layers plus boots but I persevered. Picked up some items from H&M, Zara and Zara Home, along with a black chef bag from Fendi. Happy Mother's Day to me!


Then we made our way on foot to Haesje Claes for an optional dinner of traditional Dutch food, followed by a short tour of the red light district. We sat with a couple from Australia, they were going off on another Trafalgar tour right after this one!

They served us some gin as the aperitif, for 'Dutch courage' I suppose! The food was alright, portions quite big but service was indifferent. I guess meat and potatoes are staples here. Nick had a pea and sausage soup to start with, it was nice but thick. I had prosciutto with melon, the fruit was really sweet.



We both opted for the grilled pork with pepper sauce for our main, it was a thick cut and cooked just nicely, the sauce was lovely...I could have drunk it as soup!

For dessert, he had cinnamon ice cream and I pancake with ice cream and orange liqueur. They do like their pancakes here!


We next nipped over to De Wallen, the red light district for a short walkabout. There were plenty of novelty shops and 'coffeeshops' but Nick had banned me from trying any special cupcakes, bugger. Still you could smell the weed in the air, it's quite distinct. We were discouraged from taking photos too so I have nothing of the main attraction in the area - the girls in the window displays.



There were fat girls, skinny girls, tall girls, geeky girls dressed in bikinis or neon lingerie, posing like mannequins along the various brothels. Sometimes I wonder what motivates them to join this profession? I'm sure the money is good but what about their sense of self-worth?

There was a particular shop where we saw an elderly man exiting with a big grin on his face and his conquest seeing him off...men!

Best of Holland (Day 1, 12 May 2012)

I haven't slept in I don't know how many hours but here we are in Amsterdam on Trafalgar's Best of Holland programme! While Nick familiarises himself with his own product, I'm tagging along for the fun of it...ah, the perks of being married to a travel executive.

We had an uneventful plane ride, had a rather friendly guy seated next to Nick (ooh, a flying Dutchman!) who chatted with him on and off. Ordered the boy the Hindu non-veg meal and it looked pretty good compared to my rendang and rice. Dessert was a panna cotta that they used real vanilla beans for, yum! I killed time by watching 'The Vow' and 'One for the Money' but I hardly slept on the plane except for a couple of hours here and there.



Once we landed in Schiphol, we had more than an hour to kill before our transfer so we went into a couple of shops and the supermarket before having a bite at Burger King, where I had mini Dutch pancakes.


At the appointed time we proceeded to the waiting area to meet with our travel director and fellow morning arrivals, there was quite a number from Canada and as expected they were all much older than us. Our director is Ananda Hilgeman, she knows Nick is from the company so I'm sure we'll be well taken care of though he prefers to remain incognito to the rest.

The ride to our hotel, The Eden Manor Hotel took less than 30 mins and unfortunately our rooms were not ready yet. So after a short briefing and collecting a map, we headed out to take tram no.7 just around the corner to the museum district and PC Hoofstraat where the fancy shops are located.


Picked up a few items that some people had requested from Gucci and LV but was not really impressed by the range or the service. The Chanel was busy when we went in and my boy had offered to buy me sunglasses but I was too impatient and turned him down thinking I would find something else he can sponsor...DUH!

We had a lunch appointment with Tsolmon, she lives in Holland now and the plan was to have Indonesian food at Sama Sebo. It was also mine and Nick's 'I' date, 'I' for Indonesian rijstafel since the two countries have a long history and I wanted to see how authentic the flavours would be. As Tsolmon was running late, we ordered for ourselves first, getting the individual Nasi Goreng set instead of the rice table set because it would have been too much food.


The rice came loaded with a little bit of everything, from towgay to beans, a grilled banana, rendang, satay, begedel and giant keropok. It was a big portion and we struggled to finish but it was quite tasty. The sayur lodeh we ordered was more like a soup than a lemak gravy though.

Tsolmon arrived midway and had the same thing as us. She brought little gifts for the kids and I had some for Alistair and Maxim too, along with bags she requested from Charles & Keith, and chicken rice chili she had been craving. After lunch, we went to a couple more shops and then settled down for a quick cup of coffee before we parted ways.


Back at the hotel, we managed to get our room, it's a cute and compact room, modern decor...very orange. Amenities are basic but can't expect too much on these tours. After freshening up, we were all set for our welcome reception to meet the rest of the group and see Amsterdam from the water.


I was introduced to Phebe, from Nick's PR agency and Zalina, a travel writer from Malaysia. Nick was hosting them as well so we had some Asian kakis to hang with.

Ananda and our driver Mark took us to the boarding point, just opposite the Rijksmuseum and there awaited our canal cruiser. There was more Indonesian food served onboard and we sat with Zalina and Phebe. It was a leisurely ride, almost 2 hours long and we got to see some interesting buildings and sights. There's some nice architecture in Amsterdam, and of course the houses along the canals are lovely and quaint too.




We saw tonnes of bicycles and passed numerous bridges and at one particular one called the Skinny Bridge, the captain/guide on the boat said it was good luck for married couples to kiss as you pass under, to ensure a long union and so of course the boy and I had to keep with tradition! We were too fast for a photo though! And so ends Day 1.

9 hours to go!

Woo hoo, trying not to get excited for tonight's trip to Holland...it's finally here! Was half afraid with the kids taking turns to be sick, Nick would change his mind about going but they are on the road to recovery and we can focus on packing, running errands and just generally preparing for departure.


I did most of my packing on Wednesday night and did the online check-ins yesterday, hopefully the seat in between me and Nick stays empty. He has aisle and I have window!

For once I am trying to bring less clothes, I figured half the time I would be bundled up in coats anyway, and no one can see the inside. Practically everything is monochrome too to make it easier to mix and match, hardly any prints! My pics will be sooooo boring!

I don't have high hopes for the weather, it's averaging 4-16 degrees celcius, which is cold in my book, am going to freeze. This also means gloomy pictures if there is no sun. I do hope I still get to see some tulips at Keukenhof, it's a bit late in the season for them but there will be other flowers and we will be visiting Floriade too, the world's biggest horticultural fair that rolls around once every 10 years.

Have painted my nails in OPI's "Kiss Me On My Tulips" for a Dutch theme! Psyched!

H is for...

...Ha ha ha!


After Joshua's party, Germaine dropped me off at Mountbatten as I had a H date with Nick at the Indoor Stadium.

Part of his birthday present this year was tickets to Russell Peters' sell out stand-up comic show and I thought, why not H for 'Ha ha ha'? It was a hilarious evening, starting with an opening act by someone called Joey Medina and as for Russell himself, most of the material was new or rather he would pick on people in the audience and create jokes around them which took a lot of time on its own.



There wasn't as many Indian jokes as I was expecting but the majority of the audience was made up of Indians! There was a lot of cursing, F words and sexual references and I think there was an age limit for 18 and above. However, there was a 15 year old boy in the audience who got picked on and teased a lot, mainly over puberty issues...poor Rohit!

He mimicked a lot of different ethnicities from Thais to Middle Easterners to Aussies, poked fun at himself and his family and had the audience in stitches from start to finish. The show was almost 2hrs and there was no encore and strictly no photography or recording. He did have a DJ on stage who spun before and after the show, nice tunes...felt like bopping as we exited the stadium.

Row, row, row your boat

Nat has been cooped up at home the whole week and was dying to get out so after breakfast I suggested going by the Promontory to show the girls dragon boating. There was a competition going on, the DBS Regatta and my boss was taking part. I did manage to spot my boss Phil in the crowd but we didn’t get to see his team race.



Sasha had a low fever but we dragged her out anyway, on hindsight maybe we shouldn’t have because it was pretty humid out there. The plan was just to look-see for 30 mins then head home for their lunch but Nat didn’t want to leave once she saw a couple of races and wanted to hang at MBS.



We ended up going to Marina Square for lunch and headed home right after. Sasha’s temperature didn’t subside and Nat still had a lot of phlegm so I decided to let them rest at home while I went to Joshua’s birthday party alone.


Rena had a small gathering by the poolside of her temporary home in Thomson and Jo, Ray and Germaine were there, unfortunately Jane couldn’t make it. Ray couldn’t resist the water and eventually went in with his diapers which got super soaked.


Joanne and I got wet too when Germaine went after us with a water gun, after we had instigated the kids to shoot her! So childish!


Cake was from Jins’ Cakes, the flavour was red velvet. Rena’s mum cooked most of the food, and the bubor cha cha was pretty good. I swiped the box of deep fried beancurd skin which was the garnish for the vegetarian bee hoon, could eat it like crackers!



Happy birthday in advance Joshua!

Tea with Saj

Saj and Mac will be walking down the aisle in just over the month and some of us took the bride-to-be out for tea as an early hen’s gathering at House’s Vintage Tea Party.


It’s one of the prettiest teas around I think, lots of little cakes and pastries which taste as good as they look, and on the savoury side a free flow of mini skinny pizzas. It was just me, Swana, Flea and Vim along with Saj who unfortunately was late so we started pigging out without her!




I attacked the skinny pizzas first, some of them were a bit limp from being out too long, but at least I could try flavours I don’t usually order. The spinach one was actually quite nice.


I allowed myself one plate of dessert, and I piled it on! They had a lovely crème brulee that was served in egg cups, those fly off the shelves the moment they are brought out…had to keep an eye peeled for replenishment!



Eventually Saj arrived but I was so full by then I could only watch her eat. We adjourned to Hacienda for a drink and to pass her little gifts. I ordered a blackberry lychee mojito and I forgot to eat the luscious lychees…duh!



My gift was an emergency kit I bought online, filled with little knick knacks that might come in handy on the wedding day. Flea gave her a kinky game, Swana some undies and Vim some chocolate, candles and a goblet.

I have my own packed emergency kit which I carry around in large enough bags, I squeezed over 30 items in it from plasters, to sewing kits, medicines, sweets, makeup and even ketchup! Everyone should have one!

Sasha at 25 months

Sasha is 25 months this Labour Day but I keep forgetting she just turned two because her grasp of our language never fails to amaze me. She’ll say things like ‘I want my sister to read to me’ and finally understands the difference between ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘you’.


She’s more than 12kg and has big feet! Only a couple of sizes smaller than Nat, she’s wearing Gigi’s 3 year old shoes. She’s a bit klutzy, still doesn’t watch where she’s going and is always falling or hitting her head.

With Wendy away this past month, I took a number of half days off work and got to spend quality time with the girls for about 3 weeks, when I wasn’t constantly picking up after them! I’ll miss being able to send Nat up her school bus…



But now that Wendy is back, I’ve been relegated to No.3 in their ranks with Nick and Wendy ahead. They were reunited this morning and Sasha didn’t forget her, at times she told us she wanted to go Philippines when Wendy was still away!

But at least we achieved some milestones during Wendy’s absence. Lita got the ball rolling by denying Sasha her pacifier for the afternoon naps and after a week I attempted to wean her off it at night too.

The process took about 3 weeks but I’m happy to report Sasha is pacifier-free! She’ll ask for it once in a while, the original excuse was that the bird took it, just like in Gigi’s case. But after a while, I changed it to the dragon and the phoenix took it to the moon, we have a storybook featuring those characters.


She got her first salon haircut and she poops independently now, she used to want to be carried or held when she pushed but now she just stands and goes. So I think we’re ready to start with the potty training, she’s peed a couple of times on her own but we’re not being regular with it.



She does the funniest poses when she knows her picture is being taken, kind of kungfu-like. She’s a ham but she also like to scream down the house when she’s denied something she wants or doesn’t get her way. Need to start disciplining her, I’ll admit I’m softer on her than I was with Nat.




She loves to sing ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’, especially when she’s sleepy-hyper, she can go on and on with the same song or she’ll chatter incessantly before closing her eyes. Her favourite songs for bedtime are ‘Sing’, ‘Rainbow Connection’ and ‘Let Me Take You to Rio’.



She’s ever ready to go out, whenever someone is leaving or we’re getting ready to go out, she’ll run and get her shoes and insist on putting them on herself. She’s stubborn and fiercely independent, always refusing help even when she put her shoes on wrongly or she can’t insert a strap.

Same goes when she tries to dress herself, she won’t accept any help when pulling on pants or shorts and insist on doing it herself, often resulting in 2 legs in one opening or her leggings getting stuck under her bum because she doesn’t know how to pull them over her diapers!

She loves to dance, especially to catchy Zee TV trailer music, jiggling when she hears some Bollywood beats.

She knows how to suck up, she calls Kevin ‘Godpa’ sometimes and when she wants something from him, it’s ‘Please Godpa’, not ‘Please Uncle Kevin’! A few weeks ago I had asked her if she loved her Mummy and Daddy and she said, ‘I love my Godpa Gruffalo!’ Cheeky!

The other milestone that occurred this month is in relation to Nat. She’s now fully potty trained and by that I mean she’s off diapers at night. It happened quite by accident actually, Nick forgot to put diapers for her on his birthday evening and she stayed dry till morning, waking up to pee when she needed, somehow she was aware she slept without diapers.


So ever since then, she’s been diaperless at night, I think she’s been ready for a while, but we were just too lazy to deal with any potential mess. She’s had a couple of leaks from not making it to the loo in time but not full bedwetting so I am very proud of her. Next to get her off the bottle and sleep in her own bed!



Poor bub is sick at the moment, she started coughing over the weekend and yesterday it got worse so we went to KK. Doctor recommended a chest x-ray because her lungs were not clear and she was diagnosed with a chest infection, her second in 8months plus and she’s on a course of antibiotics now. No school for her all this week. Poor munchkin.