T'will be a White Christmas

It has started snowing.  Light powdery snow is everywhere :)  This is the view of the garden at our carpark this morning.

Frozen leaves.

Little paw prints in the snow.

Snowflakes on my jacket cuff.

Ais kacang, anyone?

I scrapped ICE off my car windscreen on Wednesday evening.  It had the consistency of ais kacang.  Thought to myself, "This belongs in the freezer, or in a bowl with lovely syrup and bits of corn, not on a car parked outdoors."  Bird shit, kitty pawprints, scratches - that I can understand.

I guess there is a first time for everything.  It was still a bizarre experience nonetheless, for someone who'd never lived in a cold country :)  Ok, so it gets THIS cold.

Snow is forecasted next week - 15 cm!

P/S: Sorry for the lack of postings.  Had a couple of nasty trojans lurking around in my notebok.  Could not access any of the google websites, including blogspot.  More posts to come soon!

Remember When

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzBr4ldUW8E

This is so sweet - just wanted to share it here (thanks to Pheng Aun).

Life is short.  Live it to the fullest, not with regrets.  Spend it with the ones you love.  Create your own happy memories.  Don't wait for others to do it for you.  And if things don't go as planned, take the bitter along with the sweet, and become a better person from it.

The clips in this video are from the Disney-Pixar animation, Up. For those who have not watched it, don't wait!

What happened to the sun??

For those who are wondering how cold it is, I will tell you how cold AND how dark it is now.

This is the view from our bedroom window at 5:45pm today.  It was averaging about 3 degrees C in the day time last week.  On good days, it is about 10-11 degrees C.  If the sun comes out during the day, it is a real bonus.  Otherwise, we are just happy if it doesn't rain.

The wind here is pretty fierce, you can get blown along when you walk.  Forget about using an umbrella if it is rainy and windy.  I have spoilt many an umbrella that way.  Just put on a hat or hood and walk in the rain.

This is The Pier at Scheveningen beach here in The Hague, on a typical wet and grey morning (photo taken last week).

Ok, more cheerful stuff in the next post - 6 hour road trip to Germany!

Bum(p) Size

Ok, for those who requested, here are some bump shots at end Oct, 30 weeks :)

Hotel Rebenhof, Baden-Baden



With Yin Hui outside Maurithuis, Den Haag



Other bump-related stuff - testing blood sugar level before my breakfast:

Thankfully, the readings were normal during the 2 weeks monitoring period.

The Porcupine

Couldn't resist putting this up, great tagline!

Fable of the porcupine:

It was the coldest winter ever.  Many animals died because of the cold.  The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together.  This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions even though they gave off heat to each other.  After a while, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen.

So they had to make a choice: either accept the quills of their companions or disappear from the Earth.  Wisely, they decided to go back to being together.  This way they learned to live with the little wounds that were caused by the close relationship with their companion, but the most important part of it was the heat that came from the others.  This way they were able to survive.  


The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but the best is when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.


The Moral of the story:
 LEARN TO LOVE THE PRICKS IN YOUR LIFE!

Farewell Gathering 2

Later that night, we had farewell dinner with the NTU gang at Colbar.

Farewell Gathering 1

Better late than never!  Pics from farewell lunch in June with the 2 Petes, Wendy, Huix, Aunty and Brandon at District 10 Bistro.

The Move (random pics)

This was the state of our flat in Singapore during the move in June 2010!

Kevin heroically handled it all, whilst I was staying in a nice hotel in town. 

So much stuff...

The bed that had to be kept upright.



Gym stuff

See the boxes of tissue paper on the right?  We take that so much for granted in Singapore. 
Well, we can't get them here! 
A box of tissue paper one third of that size costs EUR 1.80.

Yes, we have some entertainment :)

What's Holland Without Windmills?

Merve and Geo were our first visitors in Den Haag!

So we headed to Kinderdijk to see the windmills.  It is a 45 min drive from Den Haag.

One of the 13 windmills is open to the public at any time.

Inside the windmill:

Climbing the narrow staircase to the different levels.

And finally, this is the modern windmill.

Our Huis

Ok, the most oft-requested photos: our apartment.  It is a 2-storey apartment occupying the 3rd and 4th floors of a conservation building.  The living, dining and kitchen are upstairs, and the 4 bedrooms, toilets and entrance are downstairs.  It is within walking distance of the central train station, and 20 minutes walk to city centre. 

Living room, and where we have our dinner most nights.

Dining room



Outside terrace



Kitchen

Kitchen

Master bedroom

Nursery (ironing and drying room for now)

Guest bedroom (still awaiting our double bed which IKEA has not delivered after 3 months)

Study (aka Jo's office)



Carpark and back garden



My trusty shopping cart, car and driver :)