a little late...

as you probably would've seen in the travel/int'l section of your local paper..spring is in the air!

(well...actually, also some volcanic ash - but these pics are from 1.5 weeks ago...so yep, am a bit late with posting these)

classic photo with bike in Amsterdam with blue skies..

horse..

cool building..

other cool building..

and tulips VS graffitti..

the pics are a bit random; but am completely loving the new light on everything; it doesn't get dark till 8pm now!

1st day of Spring!

the sun was shining - at 8am no less - and the weather, a crisp 9+ degrees....a great day for a Sunday's afternoon out!

we started with a little bit of a walk from the library along the Oostersdok, with boats of all shapes and sizes! (above is a replica of one of the Dutch East India Company ships, the 'Amsterdam') in front of the NEMO Science Centre

as well as some boats along the boulevard..

we then made it to the  Amsterdam Historical Museum (www.ahm.nl) for a contemporary art exhibition on a pretty immersive installation about the red light district here in A'dam...more info on the site...

we then made a short coffee pitstop, and happened to find this cool couple just in front of the Museum!

after an express lunch, we decided to take a bit of a ramble through town, and as you can see, the weather's pretty sweet!

(no..am not double barrelling my milkshakes, just holding onto J's at the same time...but yes, the weather is good enough for milkshakes on the go!)

Oh yah, for the eagle eyed on the internet; it's also officially Keukenhof season (i.e. tulip fields abound! now...so the hordes of tourists should be rocking up on our shores soon..

CNY in A'dam!

Gong Xi! Gong Xi!  To usher in the new Tiger year (and my 2nd entry for the year - been a bit busy with some project things...more info here), I decided to roll up my sleeves and get into the Lunar New Year mood; and what better with some Yu Sheng

 

  

on the bottom left of the 2nd pic, you'll see our carefully printed script for all the auspicious sayings when the right ingredient is added..

 

  

and all the participants of our little lo hei party..

 

And for the 2nd course, we had dark soya sauce pork and bak choy with some noodles....and that was pretty successful too!

hope you've had a good CNY so far, and all the best for business/health/ToTo/luck/life!

Maastricht in a day

this past weekend, we made it to the historical town of maastricht

just stepping out of the train station, we walked past this (pretty nice) building and straight into a flea market - no pics of this, but lots of great bits and bobs..

and we decided to head towards the local contemporary art museum, and walked along the water side..

and this is the museum - with its rocket-ship-shape...cool yah? those eagle-eyed among you will see the cafe sign on the bottom left, and boy, did they have some good eatin' cherry pie!

after an hour plus at the Bonnenfantenmuseum, and a skip through the car park, we ended up in...

the middle of Maastricht city..being a Saturday (and the tail end of the winter sales) the crowds were out in full force..

funny little thing here...intricate street lighting - normal, open square in the middle of the city - normal, statue of someone - normal.....having a constantly burning flame on the statue - not so normal...but that's because he's Jean-Pierre Minckeleers

and this might look like a church from the outside...

but a successful book chain company in holland converted it into a (rather successful when we were there - long lines to pay!) very alternative book-shopping experience!

 

 and of course, when in Maastricht, the Vrijthof has an unmissable grouping of amazing buildings..

 

i think its quite cool that the intense red of the St Janskerk is countered with the red of the building and the lady's jacket in the photo...

so, as you can see...an excellent day out with lots to see!

(for those who don't know, Maastricht is a good 2.5 hours away from A'dam; its as far as Antwerp from A'dam- but I've been wanting to see the other bits of Holland, and we found an excellent-priced ticket for 2 for single day travel..)

day out in the new year at -5 degrees!

if you've seen the weather forecasts for this part of the world, you'd know that....

it's perfect weather for submarine-viewing!!  (we'd taken the day out to across the Ij for a little change in environment...)

here you'll see the indoor swap meet where everyone with everything possible (clothes/toys/books/dvds/ taps/etc) comes together for some good ol' fashioned rummaging.. it was held in a former industrial area no less..

and the weather outside? perfect for making big steps in the snow

as shown by how much my shoe was in the ground!!

and even icicles on red vehicles

but yes, we're well all bundled up - with barely our eyes peeking out...

it's winter time!!

(weather forecast for the day said -5 degrees; but with the winds blowing, it will feel as cold as -10....brrrrrrrr....)

snowy whi-t-t-t-t-e

It's xmas time....and this year, it was snowing!! (just like in the movies/music videos/ads for hot chocolate)...it's quite unusual for it to snow this much so early in winter - normally this is more common in February....but you know it's been snowing all night when you..

1) leave these in the snow..

2) see this at your doorstep when you open the main door..

3) go out and buy a tree..

4) bring it home ..

5) and put some great decorations on it!!

(they're great aren't they? I especially like the x'mas eggplant....)

and the days have been full of...

 

Happy x'mas from us both in Amsterdam!!

-K & J

in our new city!

So....if you haven't heard yet, we've relocated to Amsterdam (for almost 2 months now) and are looking to kick-start our 2nd adventure in Europe..

and today (with the excellent weather amidst winter - about 6 degrees during the day), we took a little walk around town.. (the first pic above is the American Hotel....really nice architecture)

 And just around the corner we have the Leidseplein where 'ye olde' stalls selling oliebollen and other traditional treats for tourists and locals alike..

 

 

As well as b-boys dancing for the crowd - as well as to keep warm..

 

ah......FEBO, its ubiquitous in town because it's the one stop shop for all your....

deep-fried goodies from a vending machine (you put your coins in, open one of the windows, and voila, instant deep-fried satisfaction)

as demonstrated here; with me and my satay kroket...its a satay-flavoured ragout in a deep fried crisp shell....it's as amazing/unbelievable as it sounds!

next, we ended up in the vicinity of the Amsterdam flower market; where in season, tulips go for €10 for a bunch of 50...but seeing as to how it's winter....we have pictures of dummy cheeses outside the 'cheese basement'

clogs made of felt for indoors; i'm on my 2nd pair now, having since moved to Europe - they help keep your feet warm in the colder weather, and are a great fashion statement..

and yeah...a bit of a non-event photo of tulips, but normally the shops aren't too happy if you make photos without buying, but this was strangely placed on the opposite side of the walkway, so it was fair game..

oh yeah....i just looked at the next pics i'm about to post....there's actually no relationship between these 2 pics and everything else i've uploaded for this entry, but hey, it wouldn't be fair to withhold pics of...

 

Blackforest cake (chocolate/sponge/cherry/cream/madness) and a nut-apple pie (freshly baked crust-apple-macadamia-almond-walnut-pecan-cashew avalanche)...for our mid-afternoon-sugar-resuscitation-at-the-cafe