curtain colourful!

sinterklaas 2008

Pluis de kip

I realised that Pluis perhaps needed some explanation, before everyone thinks we're the type of people that make make chickens and let them sing to the Bee Gees just for fun...

As you may (or may not) know, I (Josefine) have gone back to school. I'm doing a primary school teaching degree and for my previous internship (in P1) I had to make a hand puppet. 

So I made a chicken and called her Pluis (fluff). Because I was insanely busy with all the other internship preparation stuff, Keefe made the lovely ball of fluff for her head. He even made two, cause the first one turned out to be just a tiny bit too small...

Anyway, the kids loved her and, as it turns out, she can sing too!

Unfortunately, my next internships are in year 5 and 6 where she probably won't be appreciated that much. She now has to decide if she wants to stay on the shelf for a while, till she can go back to school or if she wants to pursue a singing career.

We'll keep you updated. 

een rustige zaterdag...

So this past saturday, I met up with some friends for a saturday morning brunch which turned out to be a really good idea!

in case you are wondering, J doesn't appear in the pictures because she was at work ...but she did join us for the 2nd half of the day (which I conveniently forgot to take any pics of)

Here you see the lovely hosts C and D...

and we had a real breakfast spread that lasted well till noon-ish! (with token appearance by one of our rice bowls from Singapore)
and here you see us looking at a pigeon.....there is a story behind it too!!

(looking at the picture again; it actually looks very posed.....but we were completely not posing....hmm...)

Big thank you to C and D!!

Pluis de kip zingt de Bee Gees

as the mystery unfolds

5+ days of work, with hours of snipping, painting, sewing and stapling.....

snow on our street

and this is what the school playground from our terrace looks like now!

shopping on a sunday!

So J and I were taking the bus to Wijnegem, and we got off the bus stop and this is where we ended up...

not kidding; this shopping centre was (suprisingly) open on a Sunday because of the upcoming festive season; but this being our first time there, we were suprised to see that it faced a big open patch of green...and then we saw the brightly coloured Christmas decorations, and knew we were in the right direction
so this is it, antwerp's answer to the all-in-one suburban mall...
with Sinterklaas decor
and a small house (which, by the way, parents would pay 6euros to take a picture with good ol sint, and get a small bag of candy) with a precariously climbing zwarte piet
I thought this was a pretty good use of a (pretty) normal piece of furniture, as a setting for the contact lens campaign..

and of course, this is us having our free samples of yoghurt (we got a tub of coconut [??!?!?!?] and a tub of raspberry)  ...
had to post this; they have this chain in holland as well; and I always thought it was an excellent way to get people into the shop - what better, than to call it free?
so we were done with our day of window shopping; and we stepped out and this is what we saw!!!
the weather forecast had warned that it would be a day of snow and the day temperature hovering around 1degree...
and being in Wijnegem (which is about 15 minutes out of the city) it was really quiet, white...almost like a movie...the snow really dampens the atmospheric sounds out...

day at the verbeke foundation

So J's family came by this weekend, and we had an excellent excursion out to the Verbeke Foundation - a sprawling contemporary art space with an amazing array of sculptures/collages/really really nice stuff..

this is one of my favorite rooms - it showcases the foundation's collection of collages and assemblages; and not only are the works a riot; I was intruiged by the nature of the roof of the room as well..

and here we have my lovely dutch family looking at the various works on display

now we step out to the enclosed outdoor area; and yes, your eyes don't deceive you - they are parangs (machetes) mounted on machines, each presenting a book - and they move and squeak and creak and make a whole lot of sound!!

this picture basically summarizes my experience of the spaces here: just the right mix of 1)unexpectedness, 2) unsettling sights/sounds and 3) a healthy dose of context 

this is a cool one...two motors outfitted with rubber tires are activated and these in turn feed a thick (marine) rope at a speed where it creates a moving lasso.. here you see the rope in action

and here the machine is off, and the rope stays limp on the ground..

this was one of the most arresting pieces that I saw, where the artist created these avian hybrids of bird/lizard taxidermy pieces..

and in the outdoor spaces, this was a fascinating work made from planks - which in my mind, heightened my perception of the lowly rattan basket, when seeing this work in its huge format!!

if you ever find yourself in Antwerp/Belgium, this is one highly recommended arts space; it was great to run around and find works around every corner and in the green too!

mega autumn post; power up!

So I finally had the opportunity to bring the camera out for a half day, and the result of which are the following photos of autumn here in Antwerp! (less words, more pics this time)

yes, there are a couple of plants still flowering here and there..

[short interruption] and the reason for this super-photo post is that our friends from Holland, R and J are visiting us for the weekend (and a bit)...here you see a bit of Antwerp-orientation at Antwerpen Centraal Station where they give out free maps of the city..

Back to the theme of Autumn...like I mentioned in my previous post, there are carpets of yellow everywhere! its like a movie or something...on any other day, this would just be the corner of a street, but in autumn, its like a patterened carpet...

and here, for randomness' sake, is a Fig plant..

and the reason for it is that we happened to head in the direction of the Antwerpen Plantentuin

and look! a real christmas tree! not made of plastic/with glowing lights/smells of 'real' pine...

and I saw this poster and think it is super-keen-cool...i even alreayd have the handy flyer for the same event with the same graphic...

ok, so here is super touristy pic of the Cathedral and a tree...but not bad right, the light is still quite good for taking photos!!
and last but not least, i thought it was sorta important for everyone to see what we look like in our autumn fashions!!

this is what autumn looks like

So I had the opportunity for a quick trip out for some groceries (for the regular stuff, but also some extra things for friends who are coming over from Holland for a day or two); and the blankets of yellowing leaves, the 10+ degree days and the penchant for soup-stew-curry simply summarizes that the cooler days are here..

I packed my trusty camera for the trip to the supermarket and tried looking for some examples of the autumn-y vibe..

and the strangest thing is that, the first thing that I saw that caught my eye was this bottle of vodka on a power exchange box - the red was really jumping out in the 11am light..

and this is the tram that runs adjaecent to the Antwerp Zoo, and the uncle crossing the lane looks like he's making a funky dance move onto the pavement!

here is an example of the above-mentioned yellow-leaf-blanket; its amazing; sometimes you can't even see the road/pavement (for those who don't know - there is only the wet-rainy, 95% humidity season in Singapore, so all this 4 seasons stuff is new for me)

And when I looked across the road, there was a statue of Mary and Jesus in a rather unusual place - its almost at the 3rd floor of the building!

and this building has a cool back story; if my orientation is correct, this is the ante building to an abandoned church currently being used as a location for a squatter's community [behind the wall] - they have gigs, pasar malams and all sorts of activities at this building -- sorta like a community centre, but completely existing because of grassroots activities.
and yes, you did see correctly; there's a 2-man tent on the roof of the building!

yah....construction and wayfinding signs

in case anyone is wondering, this is what I look like now..it's not the best picture in the world, but you can (roughly) see that I'm bundled up (i'm in 3 layers here), and still wearing trainers..

and this is the last (and a bit random) picture of this post; when I got back from the adventure of grocery shopping, it was hailing!  the picture doesn't really show this clearly, but that's what hail looks like when you are taking a quick picture...