Mood:  happy

No Dutch goes without a bicycle. If you don't have a bycicle, you're not a real Dutch (and you'll have to walk most of the time). That's why this is my new (2nd hand) baby...

Mood:  not sure

Being back in the Netherlands was, in a sense, a bit of a bummer. Of course there was the cold. And all details I had to arrange didn’t exactly add to the joy. Though from a financial and career wise perspective, coming back was probably a wise choice, for the emotional component it seemed to be not the best move ever. It makes you realise that you cannot step into a process that has been ongoing for many years, and then suddenly expect to be fully part of it. On top of that there was the sad passing away of a young person, who is both the younger brother of a close friend, as well as best friend with 2 other close friends. Makes you think about things when you're standing there on a crisp-cold, December morning to give your last respects...

Christmas was a drag, as it always is. Feels like running around with your head chopped off. I guess it’s just too many days of too many visits in too short of a time. Still, it was good to see how especially my grandparents were happy to see some visitors.

I guess that I dread these cold, dark, gloomy days because due to the short day-light period, time seems to slip through your fingers. All those days seem as if you only had done a fraction of what initially was planned. Even subsequent days don’t seem to yield anything, since public services and shops are still not working. Now the 1^st week of January has passed, I finally seem to be able to get some work done. My job interview in Germany will be coming up soon. I’m quite curious what it’ll be like. Will it get me where I wanna go ? And do I know where I wanna go ? I’ve turned 35, and by now I need to know at least a bit what I’m heading for. So far it doesn’t look yet as if I really had a clue…

Mood:  celebratory

Went to my friend’s parents house for Deepavali. I missed out last year due to night shifts and so on. Brought some cup-cakes of the renown brand “Pretty Frostings” that Liza picked up @  Amcorp Mall (thanx ;o). It was a joy to see how the little one of Saundri’s brother was handling her cupcake. Just to think that about 3 years ago she was born some 6 weeks too early in our hospital, due to bleeding placenta praevia. I still remember how anxious Saundri’s sister in law was @ that time, as I was part of the team taking care of her in that time. Looks like some things turned out all right for sure…

Mood:  not sure

Haven’t been updating anymore these days. Life is in turmoil lately, a whirlwind with me in the middle of it. I don’t know yet whether going back for 4 months is a good idea… whether it will turn out in another disaster, both careerwise and personally. But, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do… And like always in life, anything you do will always have its backdrafts, it’s just a matter of how you’re gonna cope with it… But as for now, I guess it’s just go with the flow… See all you friends in December….

Mood:  hug me

Two weeks passed by very fast. Things I have found out are amongst others; a child that falls asleep in the car within 5 minutes of departure is a bliss, There is no limit to the number of cheap-bead-necklaces that a child is willing to buy (or ice-creams, for that matter), a loose tooth can become a sudden & sure obstacle to eat veggies, but krupuk is never a problem, Children don’t like to wake up early in the morning, even if they’re gonna see “Flipper”, Dolphins don’t like to “perform” for a crowd of 50+ boats, however damn early in the morning, and snorkeling is fun for a 6-year old only untill she takes in the first good gulp of seawater. But however nauseous the seawater made her, it didn’t temper her enthousiasm over the seastar I got her, and I’m sure in the future she will readily forget about her newly developed distaste for seawater. 

Mood:  happy

It was truly a surprise… outside was the seemingly ever present crowd of people. Waiting for the arrival of family, friends, husbands, wives, lovers, business associates, and, of course, tourists, part of what kept this place going. A small girl broke away from the crowd and leaped forward into my arms. I was so surprised, it took me a second or 3 to see it was my little gem, welcoming me with a handfull of these exquisitely fragrant flowers that, to me, are almost synonymous to Bali, even thought the local Indonesian name is “Cambodja tree”. What better welcome can you have ?