| The race |
Aug 28, 2008 2:16 am
7 Views | Every morning it's a race between the metro and the train.
I come from a small town and every morning I ride my bicycle to the train station so I can catch the morning train to work. The train is always packed so I need to stand. It takes about 20 minutes, so no problem for me. I just look outside and dream about far away and sunny places.
Most people read their tabloids. It's after all free and when you say 'free' or 'gratis' as it's called in Dutch, everyone here is all over it. I just keep looking. No need for a newspaper when I can observe people and their morning rituals. Sometimes pretty amusing.
At the end of the track I take the metro for about 3 minutes and then finishing with a 3 minute walk to work.
But for some reason the train always seems to slow down when it reaches the last few 100 meters while the metro never waits for the people from the train wanting to hop over. So it's always a race of who will be first. If the train arrives before the metro, it would save me about 15 minutes of waiting time. Not that I want to go to work that badly, but I figure I already left my warm bed, my nice shower and my cozy home, so why keep dragging it. Better to be at work, drinking some hot tea and browsing the net for a bit to wake up. Beats standing on a cold platform
This morning the train won. | |
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| Green lizard |
Aug 27, 2008 12:56 am
12 Views | It was a good and solid promise. No doubt about that. Me and a friend of mine would help out our mutual friend. She was on a vacation and had pets.
It's what friends do. They take care of their pets in time of need. So we were her heroes and proud of it. The fact that her pets were three lizards didn't hurt us.. well much. I am a curious person and I am, almost always, in for new things. So I would feed them. I would feed the lizards crickets. No big deal right?
Well at first it seemed Ok. Ok I had the image of a green grasshopper in my head, but when I opened the box I saw something smaller, something black and something - well for me anyways - similar to spiders. And believe me.. I hate spiders. But I was a hero, so I emptied the box. First box down, the next one ready. Same principle.
The crickets didn't really jump. They walked or crawled, so it seemed easy. But all of a sudden one had the idea of making a run for it by jumping on my finger. Like a little schoolgirl I screamed and my partner in feeding obviously had the same school, so he also screamed. I can honestly say I don't like crickets now.
We did laugh, but also felt a bit embarrassed. Nevertheless I continued with the third lizard. The friend opened the glass box and I reached with the plastic box inside my hand. Suddenly the lizard moved forward in a way I've never seen before. Usually they were slow and couldn't be bothered with anything, but feeding time is a different matter it seemed. It bit the box in the hope it would catch some crickets. Again I screamed. I felt less a hero. So I opened it as fast as I could and emptied the box. Dead and still alive crickets fell down in the sand while I closed the glass box. I was saved.
Today I have to go again. I can already see those tiny black eyes. I wonder what's in store for me this time. | |
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| Saturday |
Aug 26, 2008 4:57 am
18 Views | A long time ago I celebrated with the inhabitants of my town a yearly event called 'vacation week'. It got that name because it celebrated the end of the summer vacation (in Holland the school kids have a 6 week vacation period and in the 80s and 90s almost everyone went on a vacation at the same time. This is something not so common anymore, but the period stayed). Although I think it's maybe more a 'celebration' for the parents rather then for the kids, because after this week the schools would start again. So everyone in my town went to the vacation week, to have a few last laughs and joy before real life started again.
This weekend I went again. There was a pop evening with a few Dutch bands I liked. The first one was unknown to me. It was a cover band. The music was kinda Ok, but not really my taste. Oldies like the Moody Blues and the Golden Earring were a sure fit, but Coldplay was out of reach for them.
The second group was called Leaf and reminded me of Amy Whinehouse, but in a more cheerful way. They played in a big party tent and it was swamped with people. I danced and sang. It was nice.
The third act was called Kane and a few years ago one of the biggest groups in Holland. But lately they didn't reach the number one spot in the charts anymore. Maybe because their new cd was a bit like the U2 experimental phase, so with synthesizers and less guitars. It was still nice though and the light show looked pretty good. But the field wasn't filled. It was crowded, but not as crowded as it used to be years ago.
All in all I had a good Saturday and Wednesday I will go again, but this time for a Stand-up comedy show. | |
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| Grandma |
Aug 25, 2008 1:45 am
20 Views | My grandma has moved to a new house. She has been living in her old house for more then 30 years. I've been there many times and saw everyone grow up in there. When my granddad was still alive we, as a family, had our Christmas parties there and also the end of the year celebrations. I still remember the joys I had seeing all the gifts nicely wrapped up and the delicious food we had in the evenings. Oh such sweet memories.
The new house is smaller, but actually pretty nice, with a separate kitchen and a small bedroom for her alone. Since my grandma has problems with walking for a long while (she is 84), this was the better choice. No stairs in her new house and help near by.
I am sure I will get used to the new house. Memories never go away. It has been good to see my grandma happy. That is all that matters. A new house is also a place to make new memories. | |
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| My evening |
Aug 22, 2008 1:48 am
67 Views | Yesterday I decided to treat myself on a book about China. Because of the Olympics China is hot in Holland, so I bought a book about culture, customs and more. All nicely decorated with colorful photos.
Since my mood was all about China I ate at a wok-to-go, only I didn't go. I just looked outside the windows while eating and looked at the people passing by. I had rice, veggies and fried fish with a soy sauce.
I like cooking, but since I'm usually very tired after working I choose the easy way and go either for a microwave meal or a wok meal. The latter is easy to cook. Just mix meat of your choice with veggies of choice, add some noodles (or rice depending on preferences) and a nice sauce. I either use a plumb sauce or hoisin sauce. But I wanted some variety, so I went to a Toko to look for it. I bought some noodles there, peanut butter, a milk drink and a hot sauce. I got all nicely bagged by the owner.
At home I gave the bag to my cats. They love playing with plastic. They chase it and when their fake mouse is hidden underneath, they go bonkers and claw the bag all the time or run away and when returning jumping on it like as if it's a prey. They are 14, but still very active.
So all in all I made all of us happy with simple things. A evening well spend  | |
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| Music |
Aug 21, 2008 2:53 am
78 Views | Here at the company we have toilets. Very useful of course, but they tend to get dirty in places hard to clean, so management has decided to have new toilets. They seem nifty and practical since they hang on the wall which makes it easier to clean underneath.
So for the past few days we have handymen working on everything and nothing. They do the toilets, they fixed some doors, closed holes in the ceilings and more I didn't see. And they also have a radio. Here we don't use radios because it can distract people from their work. I was brought up with listening to the radio all the time, so that rule didn't apply to me. But I can see the point though. Many people, so many choices. And this can cause problems. So instead I listen to the handymen radio. It reminds me of previous jobs. I love music at work. Maybe I am getting old, but with music, for me, it's easier to concentrate and focus on just one thing. So I think before they leave I just need to inhale some more of those musical notes for future times. And then I will be humming the latest songs while sitting on the newly installed toilets. 'Da da dum da.' | |
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| Curiosity |
Aug 20, 2008 4:17 am
77 Views | It was planned. With a friend I would take a trip up high in the skies, but I chickened out. I am afraid of heights, so the idea of seeing the world as a blanket didn't appeal to me. At first I was excited. I am always interested in trying out new things. But the more I thought about it, the more my fears took over. So I declined. Maybe in the future I will accept again. My curiosity doesn't have any borders (unless it comes across fears), so with every new thing I'm all for trying it out, especially with food. I love food and drinks, so when ever I'm in the Dutch Chinatown I like to try out new drinks. My last one was a Chinese herbal tea. I hoped it would be something like pearl milk tea, but alas. Still not bad though, but not really my cup of tea so to speak. So I keep on trying.
I love my curiosity. For me it's part of my character. I have a friend and he has a different view on life. He likes to play it safe, so I sometimes really drive him crazy with my curiosity. But I guess that is how I am. I think loving the world starts with loving yourself | |
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| Great |
Aug 19, 2008 1:00 am
102 Views | It seems everyone likes to be part of a bigger whole. My parents had a boat and where ever they arrived friends were easily made, providing they shared the same hobby. We then sat on board of a strangers boat and ate and talked with new friends, only because they had a boat too.
And the greeting was also universal. When another boat would pass by, both owners placed the pointing finger in the air as a greeting sign.
Some weeks ago I was at an amusement park. I was there with two friends. One friend is partly handicapped so we had a wheelchair. This wheelchair had the benefit of entering the attractions through different doors, which also usually meant a decrease in waiting times. And there we, of course, met more handicapped people. My friend likes to talk, so she easily bonded with the other people there. There were a lot of common topics to talk about between everyone in the chairs. It reminded me a lot of my previous boat experience; people in the same situation - good or bad - tend to bond easily.
For me very good to see how everyone had a great time there. | |
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| How are you? |
Aug 18, 2008 5:21 am
101 Views | My girl is gone. Not forever, thank you, but she is on a small vacation to Mongolia. How I wish I could join her. It is nice to see a totally different culture of which I only know the documentaries and movies (soon the new one 'Mongol' ).
Together with her sister and her two cousins she will be crossing the Chinese country, starting in Nanning, arriving in Beijing and leaving this glorious city by train to Chifeng, Inner Mongolia.
The train I also have experienced during my previous China travels. It took a long while on hard beds, but fun to experience nevertheless. So I know what she will do. But still I hope to see her return soon enough and hear her stories and seeing her photos. Maybe in the future I can go too. But for now I am still chained to my office desk. It is Monday again and I am looking forward to the weekend. I will go to a concert in my home town.
How are you? | |
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| Missing |
Aug 7, 2008 1:43 am
226 Views | Me and my girl are living far apart. I live in Holland and she lives in China. Most of the time I can handle the situation. I know it isn't ideal, but for now we cannot change it yet. So I'm trying to coop. I know for her it is harder. It could be because of the cultural differences, but she is taking the living apart situation much harder then I do. So sometimes we have arguments about it and it is making us both sad.
I must say I miss her a lot. Today the rain falls out of the dark skies and I feel the inside of me yearning for her touches and love.
I miss her... | |
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