2008/09/29

Netherlands - Vlieland - Camping - 2008/09/27~2008/09/29

Lying in the Wadden Sea, Vlieland is the second island of the chain of islands in the North Sea of the Dutch coast, counting from west to east. It took two hours from Harlingen to Vlieland. We arrived Vlieland at around 4PM.

After finding a good spot for camping and setting up our tents, the guys cooked an amazing delicious dinner. We ate, talked, drank, and enjoyed the incredible sunset. Since it was cold, I actually drank quite a few Vodka to keep myself warm, but didn't feel drunk.

On the way to Vlieland, two DJ's invited us to join a company party. To find the party place, we walked around one hour on the island at night. It was an interesting and successful party with people dressing up in black and white back to old times. Walking back to the camp site Stortemelk at 4 o'clock in the morning, with the stars, the fresh air, and the gloomy street lights, I felt such a tranquil life. It's a strange feeling right after a crowded party.

Since Vlieland is the second-least densely populated municipality in the Netherlands and it's almost the end of the season, it's not crowded at all and the pace is very slow. The only village on the entire island, Oost-Vlieland, is tiny but lovely.

We cycled around the island, crossing the dunes, the bushes, and the meadows. Watching the ocean, walking on the beaches, eating natural cranberry, and etc., I wondered what else would be important in lives. :P

On Sunday evening, we had a nice dinner at a restaurant, played pool, and went to bed early. Waking up with the sound of the rain and the cold on Monday morning, I thought of the regular business meeting with my boss which supposed to be happened at that time. ha ha... the island is for sure much better than the cold office. :P

The guys went for surfing in the early morning, but I took it easy and walked along the coast. Later we had a brunch and more cycling. It's a pity that we couldn't have horse riding because the business was too relax to have it without a reservation. Actually I like the answer "The coach went to the supermarket as planned so can't take the case." The priority is nice.

2008/09/17

Netherlands - Eindhoven - Moving to a new apartment - 2008/09/17

Being sick of the hotel feeling at my nice Sofitel apartment, I asked to move to another apartment for a homely feeling. The new apartment is not as big as Sofitel apartment, but I really like the wooden floor/tables/chairs, the balcony, the decoration, and etc. I love it!

2008/09/13

Germany - Mainz & Frankfurt- 2008/09/13

To deliver the DVD writer for Dany, I visited my RSM colleague Jenny at Mainz. It's a nice and easy weekend. Taking a walk in Mainz was relaxing. Due to my exchange to UT Austin during MBA study, I actually hadn't caught up well with Jenny for a long time. Therefore I like and appreciate this weekend very much.

We went to a bar for a drink after dinner. I think this bar could be my favorite bar so far. First of all, it was a church with relatively huge space. Sitting on the couch with the high ceiling, I felt extremely comfortable. Secondly, since Jenny is a wine expert, we got a nice white wine. I love the cozy feeling over there.

Drinking at the balcony, looking at the full moon, smoking cigar, chatting with friends, somehow we celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival while we are far away from home. On Sunday, after the great breakfast, taking four bottles of nice wine from Jenny, we were on the way back to NL. Thanks for Jenny and Patrick's hospitality!

On the way back to Eindhoven, we visited Frankfurt. The city itself is OK. Walking along the river in a sunny day surprisingly made me to like a big city like Frankfurt a bit. :)

2008/09/07

Belgium - Camping & Kayaking - 2008/09/06 ~ 2008/09/07

Before this camping, I only camped twice before. My first camping was supposed to be cool while I studied in the junior high school. However because an accident happened in another school's camping trip, the trip was executed in the campus at the end. It's fun to sleep in the tent with friends, but in the campus... well... it's not exciting at all... :P The second time I slept in a tent was when I climbed the Jade Mountain. With small rocks under my back on a slop, I couldn't fall into sleep at all. However we couldn't sleep long because we needed to wake up early for the sunrise anyway.

This trip, my third camping trip, with two friends in Belgium was really nice and comfortable in the camp site Le Val de L'Aisne. We even had a bed in the tent. At night, someone played really fine fireworks and it was like a personal show in the sky with stars in the back. How lucky we were!

Next day we went for a 18km kayaking. Once I felt that I could somehow control the kayak, I started enjoying the view and the people along the river. Somewhere in the 18km, when we stuck by the rocks, we took the chance to take out our bread, chocolate jam, cookies, fruit, and etc. to ha ha... that was nice. Although at the end I got a bubble on my hand, I felt very exciting and relaxing.


On the way back to the Netherlands, we had dinner at Belgium. I was surprised at the relatively low price of having such nice food and atmosphere. Maybe I stayed at NL too long... :P
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