Netherlands - Queen's Day - 2008/04/30

Queen's Day, April 30th, is a national holiday celebrating the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. The celebration actually starts from the preceding Queen's Night. You may see orange, the national color referring to the name of the royal family, everywhere for the clothing, accessories, house/street decorations, drinks, food, and etc. Every city and town in the Netherlands would have their own celebrations, and the only difference is the size(how big the celebration is), the type(such as family oriented or crazy party oriented), and etc. It's said that the celebration in Amsterdam is the World's biggest street party. Since I joined the one in Amsterdam in year 2005 already, this year I joined the parties in Utrecht and Eindhoven.

People celebrated on the streets and canals by drinking, singing, yelling, playing, dancing, relaxing, shopping, and etc. There were countless outdoor concerts and indoor parties. People from children to elders just had fun by their way. It's the day you don't even need to feel guilty while throwing garbage on the streets.

According to the law, people don't need to pay taxes on their sales on Queen's Day. Therefore, in the "freemarket" people could sell all kinds of things, including cast-off toys, second-hand cloth, antique furniture, and anything you could image. There was a stall selling "one-day marriage", while the other could sell "taking a rest on this sofa". If you want to look for something, you have to take your time to enjoy the seeking and finding process. There is so much old rubbish for sale, and actually at the end of the day many of the unsold items might be left on the streets. Isn't it a brilliant idea to clean up your storage and to have fun? Check it out. A toilet could be on sale just like this.

People created their own "weapons" to throw the water polos. In the photo below, the closer weapon was shot by pumping, while the farther one was just by leverage. Who did they target to? Anyone on the canals! The people on the boats just threw the water polos back by hands.

Netherlands - Dutch Meals - 2008/04

I had two Dutch dinners at my colleagues' houses. The food was delicious and the houses were lovely. Their hospitality is appreciated! :)

The first evening we had "boerenkool met worst" at Lenette's house. It's a pity that I didn't take a photo of what she cooked. However I wanted to show you! Therefore I copied one from Internet as below. It's a very typical Dutch meal!

The second evening we had "gourmet" at Jenny's house. It's like Japanese teppanyaki, but each person has his/her own (cute) grill plate and has to cook by himself/herself. At the beginning I was in a great bustle because of the cooking and eating. Later, things were under control again and I was doing fine. :P

Belgium - Antwerpen - 2008/04/27

Antwerpen surprised me. I have no idea why I thought this city as a shopping city only, so I didn't think of visiting this city although I had heard the name many times. I am happy that I went there. The funny sign welcomed us when we arrived.

Save as DraftOn the way to the city center, the impression is that it's not a well organized city. However later after the walking in the city, I like the diversity of the people and the vivid atmosphere very much. There are various cafes and you could have fun easily by watching people. The buildings might not be aligned in terms of styles, but somehow it became a distinguishing feature from other cities.

With a good pillow, you should be able to fall into sleep easily on the pier, if you could have such cozy sunshine as I had. :P

Netherlands - Den Bosch - Bosschebol 巧克力泡芙

The dessert "Bosschebol" at Den Bosch is highly recommended! The covering chocolate is sweet, but the cream inside is not. If you plan to eat there, tea would be a good choice because hot chocolate might be too sweet with bosschebol.

Store: Banketbakkerij Jan de Groot
Add: Stationsweg 24 - 5211 TW - Den Bosch
Website: http://www.bosschebollen.nl/

(The photo was taken by Ashley Chang)

Netherlands - PSV Championship Party

PSV(Philips Sport Vereniging) Eindhoven won the championship of the football game, so... it's party time!

It's crowded everywhere in Eindhoven. People drank beers, yelled cheer-up pithy formulas, sang the team's songs, and etc. When the team arrived the square, we could hardly move to the place we wanted. Anyway, it's definitely a sharp celebration!

(The photo was taken by Klaas van der Molen)

Turning 30! :)

On April 10th 2008, I celebrated my 30 years-old birthday in the Netherlands. In the office, I invited some colleagues for delicious pies. It's a Dutch way to celebrate your birthday and it's fun! (According to the Taiwanese way, the birthday boy/girl would be treated by his/her family or friends, instead of treating them.) If my life is 60 years in total, I already reached the half way! I am delighted with my life, appreciating my family and all friends around. Hope I would feel blessed as well 30 years later while looking back again. *o^

On April 11th, I went to a harpsichord concert of the Goldberg Variations held in the castle Muiderslot with Jitse. The light of the sunset shed on the player and the harpsichord through the window. Sitting in the living room of the castle, I felt like a royal family who has its own musician to play at home. :P

On April 12th, I went back to Rotterdam! Nicole came to the Netherlands to visit me from Taiwan, so I showed her around for one weekend. It's so fun to visit the Blaak Market (which I went for food and flowers while studying in Rotterdam School of Management) as a tourist. We went into the Cubic house and walked a long way in Kinderdijk. (By the way, you might be surprised that most of the Dutch has never visited tourist spots such as Kinderdijk, Giethoorn, Keukenhof, and etc.)

清明節

您走後的第二個清明節
我還是 不在台灣

好一陣子 沒夢到您
上次夢到您 還是哭著醒來
許久沒用的Skype裡
您的電話還在撥出號碼的前幾位
一個2004到2006年在國外唸書時 固定撥出的號碼
您走後 有一次用Skype竟不自覺撥到您的號碼
然後 被空號的回音 驚醒

今天 全家在彰化團聚 獨缺我
偏頭望向辦公室外的景色
安安說 阿姨唔我想妳
爸爸說 太久了趕快回來 miss you
摸著項鍊 想念您