Designer's Sale!!!

It was a glorious day to go shopping today with another girlfriend of mine; sunny and the whole street of designers' shops were on SALE! We went at P.C Hoofdstraat, the designer's street of Amsterdam. Actually we were kinda of late considering the sale has started 3 weeks ago! Therefore, we only got the leftovers :P Nevertheless, it's nice to check out some of the items here and compare the prices in Malaysia and other countries. If anyone wants to buy designer items, Europe is cheaper depending on the item! My girlfriend wanted to buy this sling Gucci bag which is going for EUR315 and it was on 50% sale but unfortunately it was all sold out! :( Tempting eh ;)

Guiness Chocolate Cake - A Success

I'd a full busy day today. Early in the morning, I was at the Medical centre for my blood test which my Hubs and I waited for almost 40mins then we went back home and I'd made salad for lunch. Later on, I was off to the city to catch-up with a girlfriend of mine ;). Came back and started baking the cake :) :) Thereafter, ironed my working clothes and then back to the kitchen again to make dinner. Tonight's theme was Thai - green curry chicken with aubergine and potatoes, tom yum soup and fried sambal kangkung :)

At least finally, I've baked the 'perfect' (in my humble opinion) chocolate cake as how I always like it - moist. It's a recipe from Nigella Lawson :) As mentioned earlier, I seriously think I do not have any talent in baking but I didn't give up :P but today was one of my lucky day ;) The guiness chocolate cake turned out to be so nice, moist and tasty :) Even my Hubs likes it and mind you, he's not a big fan of dessert except for ice-cream and chocolates :)

Summer weather is coming...

I thought we're going to have some pretty bad weather as lately, it's been rainy and gloomy and then came the weather forecast prediction that we're going to experience some sunny weather the whole of next week! ;) Temperature ranging from 26 degrees and above (that's already a 'summer-ly' weather)!

This is definitely good news. However, now both my Hubs and I are feeling a bit hot at home with the temperature rising gradually. We slept with the windows open as my poor Hubs are practically perspiring the whole night, tossing and turning :P He's definitely pro to colder climate habitant unlike me. What's with us people, when it's too hot, we complain and when it's too cold, we complain too :P :P

But then again, this will be my first summer in the Netherlands. Last year I've missed most of the summer as I was back in Malaysia for our wedding. Plus I was told that we had a bad summer weather :P Let's hope this year will be better....

Michael Jackson - RIP

I was woken up by this tragic news of Michael Jackson, the King of Pop has passed away from a cardiac arrest at the age of 50!!

Despite all the child molestation allegations against him, nobody can deny that we grew up with his songs, 'Beat It', Billie Jeans, Thriller, Bad, his dance moves; the legendary "moon-walk" dance, etc, he was the legendary King of Pop. I loved his music videos and his songs. I remembered when I was still in school, I used to watch his music videos and trying to imitate his dance moves (if that is possible). He was also one of the great artist that I would want to watch him perform on stage. It was my biggest regret that I'd missed his concert in Malaysia many years ago and I heard he was in his best form. And now I'll never see him on stage again....:(

While his career and wealth had waned greatly but this never stop his comeback last curtain call concert in London been sold out; 11 tickets were sold per second to be precise.

Since I woke up this morning, I was hogging CNN as they are doing a full coverage on Michael Jackson. As fans around the world mourn it is likely Michael Jackson will be remembered as a musical hero -- but also a man with human flaws. RIP Jacko.

PAP Smear Test in Holland

I've yearly Pap Smear Test back in Malaysia but when I came to Holland, this was definitely not in my to-do list. However, I just found out that over here, a routine screening for a PAP Smear does not commence until the age of 35. An invitation will be sent from our own 'huisarts' @ General Practitioner (GP) here for a free PAP Smear test every 5 years. Every 5 years people!!! And for those who wants to take this test anytime before or after the invitation, the cost has to be paid by ourselves! What the hell......freaking strange isn't it?

Trust me, I have bee plagued by this question, why every 5 years. Finally I've my answer when I went for a blood test today. While I was there, I've asked this question to the GP. I was then told that it was proven in research and tests that PAP Smear test done every 5 years is sufficient to detect any abnormalities in the cervical cells. Cervical cancer cells grow very slow. And also the cost issue, it is not effective for the government to pay for a yearly test for every woman in the country. It is almost a redundant cost when results has proven otherwise that once every 5 years for a PAP Smear test is more than sufficient.

The Longest Day of the Year

Sunday, 21 June 2009 - The longest day of the year without us realising it :P The sun was shinning brightly throughout the day ;) The sun was still out at 10pm yesterday and by 11pm, it looked like it was only 7pm in the evening.

How does this work : Like a giant timepiece, Earth and sun are configured for the summer solstice once again. This year it happens June 21, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun will be up a fraction of a second longer than the day prior or the day after. (The length of the full day, including night, does not change, of course.)

To grasp how it works, one must understand Earth's cockeyed leanings and some celestial configurations that even the ancients knew something about..... well, for obvious reasons, I won't go into that kind of details :P We did enjoy our relaxing Sunday, both my Hubs and I :)

Stig in Top Gear revealed!!

My Hubs and I are both a fan of this top British's program, 'Top Gear' an International Emmy Award winning BBC television series about cars. The show has received acclaim for its visual style and presentation, as well as considerable criticism for its content and comments made by the infamous trio presenters; Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammon. We watch it every week on Sunday at 9pm on BBC channel here.

Yesterday night, we were in for a surprise treat from Top Gear. The 'Stig', Top Gear's mysterious masked racing test driver for all the high performance cars takes off his lid and shows his face to the world for the first time ever....This will end years of speculation on the identity of The Stig :) Boy, all of us were stunned and shocked when The Stig was unmasked! He is no other than.....Michael Schumacher!!! The ex-Formula 1 drive and 7th time Formula One world drivers' champion, and current advisor and occasional test driver for Ferrari.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8111984.stm

I love this programme!! I know it's a dude's program, but trust me, it was done so wittily and the British humour can be quite entertaining that even we, women will enjoy it ;)

Red Bull Cliff Diving Competition 20 June 2009

We saw this event by chance while we were driving back from our grocery shopping last few weeks and decided to check it out. As this event's 2nd tour stop was in Rotterdam, my city in Leuvehaven, which is pretty nearby to my place :)

A country without mountains, cliffs or ravines, it is the most improbable scenario for a cliff diving competition however the Netherlands warmly welcomed her first international high diving competition with high enthusiasm.

Cliff diving first root origin from Hawaii as early as in the 18th century. Kahekili, the last independent king of Maui indulged in this extreme sport in the 18th century which he was famous for the "Lele Kawa", the 'leaping feet-first from a high cliff into water without making a splash' and used this cliff diving as a prove of loyalty for his warriors. As time progressed, King Kahekili's cliff diving shifted focus. It was no longer just a loyalty test for the Hawaiian warriors, but has evolved to become so popular that people start competing against each other.

The tour of cliff diving series 2009 covers 8 stops in different cities in Europe:
1st stop: La Rochelle, France
2nd stop: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
3rd stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
4th stop: Polignano a Mare, Italy
5th stop: Antalya, Turkey
6th stop: Hamburg, Germany
7th stop: Sisikon, Switzerland
8th stop: Athens, Greece

The day finally arrived and unfortunately the weather was pretty crappy. However, despite the off and on rain and strong, cold wind, there were 15,000 spectators including my Hubs and I out there watching the competition. We stood in the rain in our water-proof jackets and an umbrella waiting for the competition to begin. The rest of the crowd were covered with rain ponchos. We never took our eyes off the platform mounted 26m above water on a historical crane in the old port of Rotterdam. The water temperature today was approximately 18 degrees. I guess it was pretty cold.

There will be 12 divers competing for this championship. The first challenge in Rotterdam would be their first contact with the gigantic yellow crane where the platform is placed. To reach the 26m high platform, divers were secured with a complete climbing gear - helmet, harness, rope and carabiner. It was quite an exhausting 100 steps to climb followed by an aesthetic cooling!

We did not stay until the competition ended at 4pm as we decided to grab a quick bite for our long overdue lunch :P

The victory goes to the dark, handsome good looking, 9th time world champion cliff diver, Orlando Duque from Columbia :)

(Orlando Duque in his warm-up dive)

Luchtmacht Dagen 19 June 2009 (present on that day)

Fri, 19th June, windy with relatively good sunny weather and a short drizzle in the afternoon: We started off early on Friday as the event begins at 9:30am however when we got to the neighbourhood of Volkel airbase, we were stuck in a long queue going into the parking area. On the other hand, we were pretty lucky with the route that we took to Volkel as my brother-in-law and family were stuck for hours before arriving in Volkel to join us!

Finally we had arrived at the entrance - met up with the parents-in-law, set up our chairs and enjoy the rest of the show :) The place was huge...filled with throngs of people! Sun deck chairs, portable stools, tents, snack kiosks, sponsors and military's tents littered the whole place. It was like as if a quarter of the whole Holland's population took a day off/medical leave to attend this event.

Watching numerous air force teams from international and local performing in their fighter jets with their stunning demos and team formation in the air was absolutely out of this world! The sound of the powerful roar of all the fighter jets' engines was deafening! Ear plugs were a definitely must-wear on that day without damaging too much of your eardrums ;)

Friday's programme was the best as the crowd's favourite team, Patrouille de France (France Air Force) and Red Arrows (British Royal Air Force) were present as both teams will be departing from the Netherlands after the event.Patrouille de France team (pic above) Red Arrows (pic above)

I've never been a big fan of airplanes but my Hubs grew up with it as my father-in-law and perhaps the whole family were a big fan of airplanes :) They recognised planes on sight and the teams while I was busy doing other things..... like gaping at the planes and hopefully can catch a few glimpse of some pilot cuties hahaha ;) (but unfortunately no suck luck :P).

I must say, Patrouille de France and the Red Arrows performance were absolutely fantastic and flawless! Seeing them performed on that day was so exciting and you can see all the cameras were busy clicking away during their performance ;)

The rest of the participating teams were equally good in their performance and style. Turkish Stars, Turkey Air Force was not too bad themselves ;)
There were also several solo displays of F-16 and a dummy airport attack demo which was definitely an eye-opener! We stayed till the event ended at 5pm and walked down the field to view some planes parked at the hangar. At the end of the day, My Hubs and I were quite tanned and let's say for my Hubs, he's quite 'well-done'. Right now he stood out with his bright red face and boy he's going peel later on :P. Poor babe! Despite the changing of our skin colour, it was a great day!

PS: The 2-days event attracted 220,000 people. On Saturday itself, a weekend, there were 145,000 people at Volkel and it was recorded that the traffic was horrendous.

Baking Skills?

Nah...that's something I don't have...baking skills or any hidden baking talent :P I've tried to make a non-bake cheesecake yesterday and let's just say that the cheese filling didn't turned out what it supposed to be :P I know it was my fault....I used fresh cream instead of double cream *aarrgghh* That's why I suspected the filling wasn't thick enough to hold so now I have to scoop the 'cake' to eat it like eating ice-cream from the tub :P

I have a feeling that the 'cake' will also meet its end soon....in the trash bin :P My Hubs doesn't really fancy cheesecake though I love it ;) Trust me I don't think I can finish it one by myself :P And I was wondering where can I buy double cream here? If I recall correctly I did not see any supermarkets here selling it? *sigh* another hurdle..

Luchtmacht Dagen 19-20 June 2009

'Luchtmacht Dagen' 2009 aka Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF) Open Days which will be held in Volkel, south of the Netherlands. Volkel AB is one of the two F-16 bases and it will open its doors on Friday and Saturday to the public.

I was surprised that every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit this event. Avid fans will be there to watch the demos and stunts performed by all these air force teams. Hmmm... hopefully can catch a glimpse or two of some of the good looking pilots there hehhehe. Some of the crowd's favourite Patrouille de France, Red Arrows, Turkish Stars and Patrulla Aguilla.

Thanks to my father-in-law who is a big fan of this event, we were asked to join them this year. So on Friday, we will be packing our lunch, portable chairs, ear plugs and food to Volkel. Too bad we don't own a binoculars, that will help a lot when the planes are doing their demos! Just very unfortunate for us that the weather forecast for this Friday will be cloudy and a probability of some rain :( :( This means there will be some demos and stunts that will not be perform on that day :(

Check out this: http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=99763662717&h=P56Xw&u=sw8Wt&ref=mf

Happppeeeee!

I got it! Finally a break since I came here! I got a job ;) Though it's a short term contract but considering this economy crisis, I'm very thankful :) :) 1st July will be my first day...well, better start training myself to get up really early as I'll be taking the public transport to work :P

Oh we'll be going out for a nice dinner to celebrate with my Hubs tomorrow evening :) Yoohooo!!

Wonton Mee Attack!

Just a few days ago, I'd a sudden craving for wontons (a type of dumpling commonly found in Chinese cuisines and normally had shrimps/meats filling). Hence, my Hubs and I went for a nice lunch in one of the Chinese restaurant in the city but somehow my craving lingered.... The next day, I'd decided to make my own wontons with noodles ;) Let's just say, it's been awhile since the last time I'd made wontons at home ;).

The final verdict... both my Hubs and I absolutely loved it! I'd used the frozen pure chicken stock that I kept in stock for the soup base and the frozen tiger praws for the wonton fillings. For the noodles, I'd used the dry egg noodles that my cousin brought from Hong Kong for me from her last visit here and mixed it with some sauces. For the last touch, I'd garnished it with some chopped spring onions and boiled "choi sum" vegetables. And that was our simple, delicious and yet healthy Sunday dinner :)

1 BBQ and 1 Wedding Party

You know what people say about attending an Asian and Surinam' BBQ party - you'll never walk out from the party hungry ;)

Last Saturday, we'd a 'Sabahan' BBQ party at one of my girlfriend's house in Rotterdam and later in the evening, we'd to rush to Amsterdam for one of my Hub's ex-colleague's wedding party.

Everybody had a fantastic time at the BBQ party, great company, great food :) My girlfriend aka the hostess made the satays herself and it was delicious!! Plus some of us did the pot luck, each of us brought something to the party ;) We'd mango salads, grilled fish, shrimps salad, pasta salad, avocado salad that went very well with roasted potatoes, fried meehoon, rice, ice-cream with strawberries, desserts, crackers, the super hot sambals..yummy, free flow of beers for the lads and of course last but not least the infamous 'mojito' compliments from one of the guest :)

Unfortunately my Hubs and I had to leave early :( and mind you, when we about to leave, there were still food coming in batches *grin*. And trust me our bellies were quite full already :)

We rushed back home, get changed and rushed to Amsterdam for the wedding party. It was another scene altogether :) The party was held in a docked party boat in Amsterdam. This is my first wedding party in the Netherlands :) The difference between and Asian and Western wedding parties was the dancing part ;) Somehow Asians are a bit shy when it comes to dancing after a wedding dinner but not the Westerners. They revelled on it, everyone was dancing and having a good time including us. The live band was great playing 80s music with their groovy costumes :) The most touching part of the evening, was a group of their friends sang to the bridal couple, I thought it was such a nice gift :) We left close to midnight and the party was still on-going ;)

We were knackered. It was a long day for both my Hubs and I but we did enjoy ourselves.

Raw Maatjes Herring Season is in town!

Raw 'maatjes' herring eating frenzy has begun...The Dutch consume tens of millions of the raw, salty delicacy each year: the "maatjes" herring whose seasonal arrival kicked off last Tuesday as this season promised an exceptionally tasty batch.

Thousand of Dutchies are expected to flock to Scheveningen to celebrate today, 13 June. "The quality of the maatje is excellent this year. It's fat content is particularly high: 26.3% compared to the usual 16%," fish expert Peter Koelewijn told AFP.

The "maatje", derived from the Dutch word for virginal but also known as the Hollandse Nieuwe, is fished in the North Sea for just over a month every year from the end of May to the beginning of July. The hand-sized maatje is prepared to a unique Dutch recipe: gutted and cleaned straight from the net with only the pancreas left intact to provide the enzymes needed for curing. They are salted in a barrel for one to four days, depending on their size, and are then frozen to stop further maturation.

"A good herring has a salt content of about two per cent," said Nico de Jong, Director of the Dutch Herring Wholesale Association.

The fish are traditionally eaten held by the tail with the consumer tilting his head back and chomping away. Some put the fish on a bread roll with finely diced onion, though this practice is frowned upon by connoisseurs. Well....unfortunately for these connoisseurs, there are people out there still eating it with diced onions for the extra ummmphh ;) Eating raw herrings is really not my cup of tea but I know my bro-in-law and my little nephew absolutely loves it!

Jazz In the Canal

My Hubs and I had a great time yesterday in The Hague for an evening of jazz in the canal :) Young and old jazz music lovers were out there enjoying a relaxing evening of jazz by the canals. Participating restaurants/pubs were packed with diners and drinkers who were there for a great evening. It was definitely one of a nice evening!

As both of us do not know how good these local jazz musicians were so we went there with an open mind and we were not disappointed :) Some bands were very good....one of my favourite for the evening was 'Blood Sweat & Kiers' consists of a drummer, 2 guitarist and a saxophonist. They played lively swing, rock jazzy music. Their enthusiasm and fun approach rocked the audience and they loved them!














Another favourite jazz band of the evening was 'Changes'. The songstress was very good, clear voice and they composed their own jazzy songs :) They played mostly loungy and easy to listen jazz music. The crowd also loves them ;)
These bands will be moving from one outlet to another, up and down the canals via the boats. Each bands has approximately 20-30mins in an outlet before moving to another. Another crowd favourites was the 'Basily Boys'. These young very talented guitarist consist of 3 young musicians whom are still in their teens were amazing. They played mainly gypsy-latin music.

For those who are staying right beside the canals, they brought their own tables and chairs and set it up near the banks of the canals for a get-together with friends and family. It's almost like an evening picnic by the canals. Some people bringing their own snacks and drinks and just sit by the canals to watch the bands playing. It was truly a very relaxing, informal jazzy evening for all of us!

The Cubic House in Rotterdam becomes Newest hotel?

When I first saw the 'kubuswoning' (cubic house), I thought it was such an unusual piece of work. The cubic house is one of the must-see atraction in Rotterdam. It is designed by a local architect Piet Blom, best known for his cubic house designs. I've only been inside the cubic house once when one of my girlfriend came for a visit last year. It was quite an experience though the first thing that hit me when I stepped inside the house was I felt a bit disoriented and dizzy. The whole interior is small and space has to be maximised to accommodate the unique angled structure.

The cubes are tilted and sit on hexagon-shaped pole structures. The cubes contain 3 living areas. The triangle-shaped lower level contains the living room, the windows on this level open onto the view below due to the slope of the tilted cube. The middle level contains the bedrooms and a bathroom while the top level, also in a triangular shape is used as either an extra bedroom or a living space. I must say the top level provides a great view since the apex of the room is a 3-sided pyramid with windows all around.

Recently some of these houses have been converted into hotel accommodation including a restaurant and a meeting room.....hmmmm. It's definitely a novelty to be able to experience in staying in the cubic house.

Typical Dutch 'cuisine'

I have friends asking me this question many times, what is a typical Dutch food? In Malaysia, I can say, you have to try some of these Malaysian famous food such as 'Char Kuey Teow' (fried flat noodles), 'assam laksa' (sour fish-soup noodles) or even 'roti canai' (flatbread normally eaten with curries). But when it comes to Dutch food? Even my Hubs can't really answer that. Holland doesn't really per say has a special main national dish, I think, except that the Dutchies do love their snacks and such ;).

One of the favourite snacks of the Dutchies is 'kibbeling' (deep fried bite-sized cod fish coated in a batter) and a whole piece of deep fried cod or other type of fishes. My Hubs has a habit of treating himself with a piece of fried cod fish whenever we are on our weekend visit to Maastricht. We have of course the 'patat' (fries), an all-time popular snacks regardless, it's summer or winter, the patat kiosk will be full with people lining up :) The Dutchies love their fries with 'pindakaas saus' (peanut butter sauce) or mayo. And don't forget the 'kroket' (deep fried snacks made of mashed potatoes and minced meat), 'frikandel' (deep fried mixed meat sausage), 'bitterballen' (deep fried meat balls) normally served as finger food in bars/cafes with a glass of beer :)

A typical Dutch dinner will be the 'stampot' (mashed potatoes with mashed vegetables served with a piece of smoked sausage) and the 'erwtensoep' (pea soup). These are normally served during winter and my mother-in-law sure knows how to make a great pea soup ;) The soup normally has pieces of pork or sausage in it and it is almost like stew texture rather than soup.

Last but not least, the love of their breads and cheese....hence, the 'belegde broodjes' (breads with cold cuts). Lunch normally consists of breads eaten together with cold cuts, cheese and some veges. I remembered my first trip to the Netherlands for a training, lunch was like a 'fiesta'. A self-service style whereby all sort of cold cuts, cheese and breads were spread on the table and you just pick and choose how you want to make your own bread meal :)

Foie Gras to be taken out of Dutch hotel menu?

I've came across this news article this afternoon - A few of the Dutch hotel chains are taking off foie gras (duck liver) off their menus because this is cruel to the animals. Ducks and geese are been force fed to fatten up their liver.

I am not a big fan of any pate but I would assumed for most people out there who love this cuisine will be not too happy. The funny thing is though the government in the Netherlands has outlawed the process of force feeding these ducks and geese, consumption of foei gras is not illegal in the Netherlands ....hmmm...so isn't this is a bit contradicting??

I know of one person who totally do not agree of banning any consumption of foie gras, Anthony Bourdain , the host for the Travel's Channel: No Reservations. You want to know why he doesn't agree that this process is not cruel? Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABeWlY0KFv8

Dental Visit

I'd 2 of my wisdom teeth removed 2 months ago here in the Netherlands and I can tell you the experience was painful and traumatising! The first experience was back in KL and it was equally traumatising or even more!

Back then, I'd to remove my bottom left wisdom tooth and it took me a full month before I fully recovered. I couldn't talk and laugh for weeks and the pain was unbearable on the first day. The dentist only gave me Ponstant pain reliever which did not work at all on my pain. Thank god my godmum had her pain killer with her which she used it for her cancer. I took half a tablet and was knocked out immediately :) To sleep it off at that time was a total bliss - my saviour.

So when I found out from my dentist during the half yearly check-up that I'd to remove all my remaining wisdom tooth as they are slowly rotting, I broke out into cold sweat. I finally did it after 7 months of dragging my feet :P. The first removal was my upper left tooth. I was so nervous! The pain was more on the stretching of my cheek and the force used to loosen that tooth! Thank god it was over within 30 mins. I was quite shaken about it actually and I was appalled that the dentist did not give me any pain killers. I was only given 2 extra gauzes and was advised to take paracetamol when the pain comes. DUH!!! Thank god the paracetamol did work on the pain. Surprisingly I'd recovered very quickly from that removal.

The second one was my other bottom wisdom tooth, the dentist did a good job I must say though I'd to take 3 anesthetic jabs :P Everything was done very professionally. It was not as bad as I'd anticipated as my first experience was awful as I'd mentioned. I was very happy when the dentist gave me soluable pain killers for my pain. When the anesthetic wore off, the pain was real and thank god the pain killer worked :). The swelling came within an hour after the removal and it took 1.5 week to subside.

Now, I still have one more wisdom tooth left to remove (the upper right). The thought that I've to make another dental appointment for the last removal gives me the shivers :( *sob*sob* Shucks, really NOT looking forward to it.....My advice, if you don't have to remove any wisdom tooth, DON'T do it.

Jazz fever!!!

With the North Sea Jazz Festival around the corner, we've also North Sea Round Town from 27 June-12 July in Rotterdam whereby participating cafes, restaurants and outlets in the city will have live jazz bands playing.

In other cities like The Hague and Utrecht will also have their own jazz festivals programmes lined up. This coming Friday and Saturday in the city of The Hague, jazz live bands will be seen playing in the canals (in Dutch, 'Jazz in de gracht'). Interesting huh. Imagine, sitting by the cafes overlooking the canals with live jazz bands playing throughout the evening....'gezellig' (nice and cosy).

There are quite a number of other jazz festivals and programs lining up for this season, from classic jazz to latin jazz...:) Definitely something to look forward to this coming jazz season ;)

Jazz Season is in Town!

It's definitely a jazz season now. The biggest jazz festival in the world, North Sea Jazz festival, a 3-days festival which will be held in Ahoy, Rotterdam offer different range of jazz music ranging from traditional New Orleans jazz, swing, bop, free jazz, fusion, avant-garde jazz and electronic jazz; to blues, gospel, funk, soul, R&B, hip hop, world beat and Latin.

Last year, we'd Alicia Keys, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, Chaka Khan, George Benson, Diana Krall, Paul Simon. This year's line up we'll have Jamie Cullum, BB King, Erykah Badu, Seal to grace the stage. Though I told myself from last year that I will want to go for this festival since I've missed it last year but with this year's line up....don't think so. Personally, I find it not so interesting except for Jamie Cullum's performance. Oh well, perhaps next year's line up will have more artists that I wanted to see :) :)

Sale! Sale!

The 'Sale' signs hanging outside shopping stores are definitely not a good thing for shoppers like me especially at times like this with the crisis. The smartest and wisest thing to do is to save now and not spend unnecessary. But then again, the other side of me, the devilish side says to buy when its on sale, good bargains! The temptation is so great!

Just last few days, Esprit had a members' private sale that lasted for a couple of days and then followed by Mexx. Their members' private sale started yesterday and today is the last day. I thought of checking it out, just to see.....Of course since I came here, I'd subscribed also to e-newsletters of shopping stores, etc to keep myself updated with any sale and promotions :) This morning, I've received a newsletter from Designer Outlet Roermond (a shopping haven where some designers outlets are selling off-season items at a lower price) that all the designer outlets are going to have a grand sale up to 70% off the retail price this coming Thursday! Boy, oh boy....the temptation....the lure.....aaarggghhh I need a gold mine!! Or should I say I need a tree that grows money on it! :P

Rainy & Gloomy Weather Ahead

I spoke too soon, just that I thought we're going to have a steady good spring weather and bang came the rain :( Last week, we have been experiencing some rain and gloomy weather, not something that anyone will be jumping up and down with joy about it.

On Sunday, we'd an outing to the city with my sister-in-law and her family and guess what, in the end, they were all drenched. They thought catching a few drizzles were ok but then again the weather decided otherwise. The drizzles became a steady fall of rain and the next thing we knew, the rain just stayed on for the rest of the afternoon. After a drink in one of the cafes, we have decided to call it a day. Walking in the rain and avoiding puddles especially with my bottom jeans were all wet and a drenched family with us was definitely not our ideal Sunday.

BOB Autowas is just so easy!

Normally my Hubs will wash the car whenever we visit his parents in Maastricht :) Today my Hubs decided to take his 'mistress' for a treat and yes that'll be his car for a all-in carwash.

BOB Autowas is a new automated carwash located near our neighbourhood. I'm quite wary when it comes to this kind of automated carwash as I'd heard a lot of complaints back home that these carwash scratches the car. However, according to my Hubs, BOB auto carwash uses very strong water pressure spray instead to do the deed so no scratches on the car. Honestly I've never been to this kind of carwash before as I'd my brother to wash my car all the time ;) haha (just a deal we made when he smashed up my car the last time). Anyway, while waiting for our turn, I was busy clicking away ;). When our turn came, we paid the attendant and told him our selected choice. Today, we opted for the Wash+Polish that cost us EUR13.50. After manoeuvering our car onto the conveying belt, the wash process began. Our car was sprayed with shampoo .... Then followed by very strong water spray to clear away the shampoo.....there were quite a few spray along the way actually. The 'mop' came....well I called it the mop ;) The 'rainy' journey....:) The last part of the process was the dryer.....before the mop came again to dry off the last droplets from our car. And bravo, we were done in less than 5 mins!! Then we drove out from the washing area and did a pitstop to vacumn the car where we can use the facility for free. It was so easy and fast!! And now we've a clean car to last us until our next trip to the carwash again or to Maastricht :)

Blijdorp Rotterdam Zoo

Tue, sunny with cool wind: It was a nice outing with my Hubs's sister and her family to the zoo. Blijdorp Rotterdam is also a must-visit zoo in this city. As I've been to Burgers Zoo in Arnhem so I am able to make a comparison between these two zoos.

Both zoos are big however Burgers zoo is a little tad bigger as the zoo is located outside the city whereas Blijdorp is right in the city of Rotterdam. We did spent the whole day at the zoo! I can even catch a glimpse of the zoo whenever I'm travelling by train via the Rotterdam Central station.

Blijdorp zoo are divided their animals into regions: Asia, Europe and Africa. On top of that, there are also the Oceanium (aquarium), Taman Indah, Riviera Hall, the Asia House and the bat cave. During this period, we were lucky to see a few proud mothers and parents of their youngs; among others are the sea lion, the elephant, the zebra and ducks.

We'd our lunch break (comprises of hamburgers and sates with fries, yummy) alfresco style together with some birds as company which we fed them with fries. (Yes, these birds are really fat and fluffy from all the high carbo they have everyday :P ). For our tea-break, ice-creams! *slurp* :) This was my first visit to Blijdorp but can't say for the rest. They have been to the zoo several times already even my little nephew :)

I'm quite impressed with Blijdorp though in the end I've preferred Burgers zoo concept. However, I am sure with the renovation almost done soon, Blijdorp will be equally impressive. I was very happy to see some animals at a very close range especially the tigers, the polar bear and the lions. It was amazing! The Oceanium was also very nicely done up.

My favourite animal from this zoo: The red panda...sooo adorable :)
These are some snapshots I took of some of the animals. Looks like Mr. Croc had an accident in his jaw area...hmmm...:)