Here are some pictures we took with it today.
Click on the following link to see the whole photo set:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185566&l=4702c&id=537735362
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Trying Out the New Camera
We are sad to announce the death of our trusted old camera, so we just bought a new camera - a Sony Cybershot DSC-W120 pocket-sized camera.
Here are some pictures we took with it today.
Click on the following link to see the whole photo set:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185566&l=4702c&id=537735362
Here are some pictures we took with it today.
Click on the following link to see the whole photo set:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185566&l=4702c&id=537735362
Sunday, November 30, 2008
"Waltz With Bashir" - A Review
Have you ever gone to see a film, where for about 2 or so minutes after the end of the film, while the credits are rolling, noone - I mean absolutely noone - in the whole auditorium, moves, says anything, and everyone just sits there in absolute silence?
This is exactly what happened last night, when Margreet and I went to see "Waltz With Bashir" at the Filmhuis in The Hague. Not only after the projectionist turned on the light, did the 40 or so movie-goers start to get up to leave.
"Waltz With Bashir" is the personal story of Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman as he tries reconstruct his lost memories surrounding his military service as a 19-year-old during the 1982 war between Israel and Lebanon, and his involvement with the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
The film hard to categorize. It is a compilation of interviews with people who served with him, friends, his psychologist and a well-known journalist (in Israel) who covered the war, mixed in with vivid and violent flashbacks, both real and surreal. The unique thing about this "documentary" is that virtually the whole film is animated even though the interviews are quite real.
The film gives us a unique insight into war, where there are no clear villains nor heroes. The film pretends not to be political, yet leaves you with the feeling that all war is inevitably pointless and destructive.
The animation is incredibly good and the soundtrack is haunting, and even though you're basically watching a cartoon, you never get the sense that you're watching a fiction, a point vividly brought to life at the end when the filmmaker leaves us with live footage of the massacre.
If you can get a chance to see this film, I definitely recommend you do so. If you do see it, I would love for you to respond to this post with your thoughts on the film. Also, if you have a response to the question I posed in the first paragraph of this post, I would love to know the name of the film.
Trailer:
"Waltz With Bashir" official website: http://waltzwithbashir.com/home.html
This is exactly what happened last night, when Margreet and I went to see "Waltz With Bashir" at the Filmhuis in The Hague. Not only after the projectionist turned on the light, did the 40 or so movie-goers start to get up to leave.
"Waltz With Bashir" is the personal story of Israeli filmmaker Ari Folman as he tries reconstruct his lost memories surrounding his military service as a 19-year-old during the 1982 war between Israel and Lebanon, and his involvement with the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
The film hard to categorize. It is a compilation of interviews with people who served with him, friends, his psychologist and a well-known journalist (in Israel) who covered the war, mixed in with vivid and violent flashbacks, both real and surreal. The unique thing about this "documentary" is that virtually the whole film is animated even though the interviews are quite real.
The film gives us a unique insight into war, where there are no clear villains nor heroes. The film pretends not to be political, yet leaves you with the feeling that all war is inevitably pointless and destructive.
The animation is incredibly good and the soundtrack is haunting, and even though you're basically watching a cartoon, you never get the sense that you're watching a fiction, a point vividly brought to life at the end when the filmmaker leaves us with live footage of the massacre.
If you can get a chance to see this film, I definitely recommend you do so. If you do see it, I would love for you to respond to this post with your thoughts on the film. Also, if you have a response to the question I posed in the first paragraph of this post, I would love to know the name of the film.
Trailer:
"Waltz With Bashir" official website: http://waltzwithbashir.com/home.html
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Witnessing History
Reflections on the US Elections
It's already been a few days since Obama's historic victory and I've been riding an emotional high ever since I saw the words "Barack Obama - President Elect" sprawled across my television screen at 5 a.m. on election night. I was literally sitting alone in the living room, with tears in my eyes and a smile across my face, while Margreet and Noa were sleeping peacefully upstairs.
I stayed awake for another 2 1/2 hours afterwards listening to the speeches and taking it all in. There are times in your life when you know the world is changing before your eyes and you just can't let go.
It's a feeling I have never felt before, but one I have heard of, when people mentioned how they felt about John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It's a feeling of inspiration and hope, pride and humility.
It's not so much that the United States have finally elected a black person - a feat I was hoping I would see in my lifetime - but that we, as Americans, have elected a person who brought us a message of hope and change that didn't sound political and that didn't bring out the cynicism and apathy in us.
I started paying attention to the election only after it became a 3 legged race - between McCain, Clinton and Obama - and my impression at the time was that I would be OK with any of the three. I admired McCain for his personal history of service to his country, as well as his senate record of reform and bi-partisanship. I admired Hillary Clinton mainly because of her relation to Bill Clinton and I believed that her ideas would be similar to his. I did not know much of Barack Obama, but I liked what little I knew.
Thus, as a Democrat, I thought I would support whichever candidate came out of the democratic primaries.
Then came the defining moment for me. In response to growing reports of his ties to Reverand Wright, Obama made his "A More Perfect Union" speech. This speech convinced me that in Barack Obama, we have found a leader who is well spoken, intelligent, honest and grounded, who is comfortable speaking about race, social injustice, abortion, foreign policy and other polarising issues without being divisive. I felt that Obama could unite Americans, black and white, men and women, Democrats and Republicans. I felt that Obama could repair America's standing in the world.
Every time I listened to him after this, I became more and more convinced that he was the right person for the job. I felt bad for Hillary, as I felt that she would have made a good president too, but I was really hoping Obama would win. Unfortunately, knowing California would overwhemingly vote for Obama, and therefore my vote wouldn't make a difference in the overall race, I didn't bother to register to vote until it was too late. Now I regret not having participated in this historic event. I do wish, however, that the US would change to a popular vote instead of the electoral college vote. The current system gives more weight to votes of people from certain states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and less to others (California, New York, Texas). But that's another topic.
But in the end, Obama's message of change won out and ushered in a new day.
Watching the celebrations from around the US, one could easily forget that over 57 million Americans voted for McCain. To those people, I say that I hope you give our new President a chance. He will make a difference.
I believe it.
The YES WE CAN song
The following lyrics are from the inspirational Will.i.am song "Yes We Can". The words are drawn almost verbatim from Barack Obama's speech following the New Hampshire Democratic primaries. The video of the song (below after the lyrics) made me cry for the first 50 times I watched it :)
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --
Yes. We. Can."
It's already been a few days since Obama's historic victory and I've been riding an emotional high ever since I saw the words "Barack Obama - President Elect" sprawled across my television screen at 5 a.m. on election night. I was literally sitting alone in the living room, with tears in my eyes and a smile across my face, while Margreet and Noa were sleeping peacefully upstairs.
I stayed awake for another 2 1/2 hours afterwards listening to the speeches and taking it all in. There are times in your life when you know the world is changing before your eyes and you just can't let go.
It's a feeling I have never felt before, but one I have heard of, when people mentioned how they felt about John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. It's a feeling of inspiration and hope, pride and humility.
It's not so much that the United States have finally elected a black person - a feat I was hoping I would see in my lifetime - but that we, as Americans, have elected a person who brought us a message of hope and change that didn't sound political and that didn't bring out the cynicism and apathy in us.
I started paying attention to the election only after it became a 3 legged race - between McCain, Clinton and Obama - and my impression at the time was that I would be OK with any of the three. I admired McCain for his personal history of service to his country, as well as his senate record of reform and bi-partisanship. I admired Hillary Clinton mainly because of her relation to Bill Clinton and I believed that her ideas would be similar to his. I did not know much of Barack Obama, but I liked what little I knew.
Thus, as a Democrat, I thought I would support whichever candidate came out of the democratic primaries.
Then came the defining moment for me. In response to growing reports of his ties to Reverand Wright, Obama made his "A More Perfect Union" speech. This speech convinced me that in Barack Obama, we have found a leader who is well spoken, intelligent, honest and grounded, who is comfortable speaking about race, social injustice, abortion, foreign policy and other polarising issues without being divisive. I felt that Obama could unite Americans, black and white, men and women, Democrats and Republicans. I felt that Obama could repair America's standing in the world.
Every time I listened to him after this, I became more and more convinced that he was the right person for the job. I felt bad for Hillary, as I felt that she would have made a good president too, but I was really hoping Obama would win. Unfortunately, knowing California would overwhemingly vote for Obama, and therefore my vote wouldn't make a difference in the overall race, I didn't bother to register to vote until it was too late. Now I regret not having participated in this historic event. I do wish, however, that the US would change to a popular vote instead of the electoral college vote. The current system gives more weight to votes of people from certain states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania) and less to others (California, New York, Texas). But that's another topic.
But in the end, Obama's message of change won out and ushered in a new day.
Watching the celebrations from around the US, one could easily forget that over 57 million Americans voted for McCain. To those people, I say that I hope you give our new President a chance. He will make a difference.
I believe it.
The YES WE CAN song
The following lyrics are from the inspirational Will.i.am song "Yes We Can". The words are drawn almost verbatim from Barack Obama's speech following the New Hampshire Democratic primaries. The video of the song (below after the lyrics) made me cry for the first 50 times I watched it :)
"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.
Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --
Yes. We. Can."
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Dinnertime at the Weiners
I welcome you to watch a video I made during our interesting dinnertimes. Noa is starting to say words now. The latest word is "doei", pronounced "doo-ee" which means "bye". When she says it, it cracks us up each and every time.
Hope you enjoy it...
Hope you enjoy it...
Day Trip to the Zoo
Last Thursday, my friend Jonathan and I decided to take our little ones, Cillian and Noa, to the zoo.
Now there are a lot of zoos here in Holland, but Jonathan had picked one near Antwerp in Belgium, about a two hour drive from where we live. A lot of the nice zoos here in Holland would have also taken upto two hours to get to, so the fact that this one was in a completely different country didn't make it any further to get to. It's just a funny thing living in a small(ish) country like Holland that sometimes you need a passport for a day out to the zoo (not that I actually took my passport.)
The day was promising to be a rainy one, so at first I was thinking about postponing, as being from Southern California, I'm afraid of rain. Jonathan, being from Ireland, didn't seem to be concerned with getting a bit wet, and kindly told me to grow a pair (and with some hormone therapy should be likely).
So they stopped by at the ungawdly time of 10.00am (for someone who leaves work at 3.00am, then watches the 3rd presidential debate live until 5.45am, waking up at anytime that ends with "am" is ungawdly). We loaded Noa's car seat next to Cillian's and off we went!
We arrived just before noon and there was hardly anyone there. The parking lot was empty. I don't know if it was the weather or the time we arrived, but it looked like we were going to have the park to ourselves. We loaded the critters into the double buggy that Jonathan had brought and walked into the park. Now there's something about 2 guys walking with 2 young kids in a double stroller that's just a little bit, uhhhh, well, uhhhh gay. It's a good thing that I switched the earring to the other ear :) Wouldn't want any rumors to start.
The zoo itself was OK. I'm not into zoos so much, but I enjoy finding something fun for Noa to do. Most of the time, we just let Noa and Cillian run around. They weren't so interested in the animals. They were more interested in splashing in the mud puddles, wandering around in the forest and running after each other. Other than the constant threat of rain, we were actually very lucky with the weather - it had only rained once while we were there and it was only for a few minutes.
One complaint about the zoo, though: there was no baby changing station in the men's room, so we had to change the nappies in the ladies' room, which got us a few stares from some of the women and some giggles from some teenage girls. Once, I was lifting Noa to get a good look at some of the animals when I noticed a lot of mud on her tights and dress. I wasn't so surprised as this little girl gets so dirty when she plays outside. However, upon further inspection, it didn't smell like mud, and it was, in fact, not mud but poo! At that moment, we were quite far from any facility, so I had to give Noa a complete cleaning and change of clothes on a bench in the cold - poor Noa. Luckily, Margreet had prepared a complete baby bag with new set of clothes, so crisis was averted!
Anyway, we got home at about 6pm, and after some dinner and a long bath, Noa slept for 13 hours straight (until Margreet had to wake her up to go to the creche!), so we can assume that a good day was had by all!
Now there are a lot of zoos here in Holland, but Jonathan had picked one near Antwerp in Belgium, about a two hour drive from where we live. A lot of the nice zoos here in Holland would have also taken upto two hours to get to, so the fact that this one was in a completely different country didn't make it any further to get to. It's just a funny thing living in a small(ish) country like Holland that sometimes you need a passport for a day out to the zoo (not that I actually took my passport.)
The day was promising to be a rainy one, so at first I was thinking about postponing, as being from Southern California, I'm afraid of rain. Jonathan, being from Ireland, didn't seem to be concerned with getting a bit wet, and kindly told me to grow a pair (and with some hormone therapy should be likely).
So they stopped by at the ungawdly time of 10.00am (for someone who leaves work at 3.00am, then watches the 3rd presidential debate live until 5.45am, waking up at anytime that ends with "am" is ungawdly). We loaded Noa's car seat next to Cillian's and off we went!
We arrived just before noon and there was hardly anyone there. The parking lot was empty. I don't know if it was the weather or the time we arrived, but it looked like we were going to have the park to ourselves. We loaded the critters into the double buggy that Jonathan had brought and walked into the park. Now there's something about 2 guys walking with 2 young kids in a double stroller that's just a little bit, uhhhh, well, uhhhh gay. It's a good thing that I switched the earring to the other ear :) Wouldn't want any rumors to start.
The zoo itself was OK. I'm not into zoos so much, but I enjoy finding something fun for Noa to do. Most of the time, we just let Noa and Cillian run around. They weren't so interested in the animals. They were more interested in splashing in the mud puddles, wandering around in the forest and running after each other. Other than the constant threat of rain, we were actually very lucky with the weather - it had only rained once while we were there and it was only for a few minutes.
One complaint about the zoo, though: there was no baby changing station in the men's room, so we had to change the nappies in the ladies' room, which got us a few stares from some of the women and some giggles from some teenage girls. Once, I was lifting Noa to get a good look at some of the animals when I noticed a lot of mud on her tights and dress. I wasn't so surprised as this little girl gets so dirty when she plays outside. However, upon further inspection, it didn't smell like mud, and it was, in fact, not mud but poo! At that moment, we were quite far from any facility, so I had to give Noa a complete cleaning and change of clothes on a bench in the cold - poor Noa. Luckily, Margreet had prepared a complete baby bag with new set of clothes, so crisis was averted!
Anyway, we got home at about 6pm, and after some dinner and a long bath, Noa slept for 13 hours straight (until Margreet had to wake her up to go to the creche!), so we can assume that a good day was had by all!
Monday, October 13, 2008
A visit to see Christine
My good friend Jonathan (from my Schlumberger days) and his lovely wife Ilse just had a new daughter, Christine. Margreet, Noa and I went to visit them last Thursday. It was a beautiful day outside (not many of those this summer), so we took the bikes and rode the 15 minute ride to their house in The Hague.
Their first child, Cillian, is a regular playmate of Noa, as they are only 3 weeks apart in age and get along great. So while Margreet and I were ooh-ing and aah-ing over little Christine, Noa and Cillian were running all over the place, climbing all over the furniture, eating tons of cookies, making chocolate handprints on the nice white furniture and carpets.
Christine is a big baby (over 4 kg / 9 lbs) with a lot of hair! But holding her, she felt sooo light. I forgot how light a baby is supposed to weigh. Or is it that Noa is getting so big?
So anyway, I just wanted to post a little blog entry (hopefully the first!) to welcome Christine McCann to the world!
Their first child, Cillian, is a regular playmate of Noa, as they are only 3 weeks apart in age and get along great. So while Margreet and I were ooh-ing and aah-ing over little Christine, Noa and Cillian were running all over the place, climbing all over the furniture, eating tons of cookies, making chocolate handprints on the nice white furniture and carpets.
Christine is a big baby (over 4 kg / 9 lbs) with a lot of hair! But holding her, she felt sooo light. I forgot how light a baby is supposed to weigh. Or is it that Noa is getting so big?
So anyway, I just wanted to post a little blog entry (hopefully the first!) to welcome Christine McCann to the world!
Me (holding Christine) with Ilse and Margreet
Me, Jonathan and Margreet (holding Christine, Cillian and Noa respectively)
The two rascals :)
Mother and Daughter
For the rest of the photo set, click here.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
First Time at the Swimming Pool
What is there to do on a rainy and cold Sunday October morning in Holland? Why, go to the (indoor) swimming pool!
Today, we took our first trip to the swimming pool. We were a bit worried that Noa wouldn't like the pool. In April, when we were in Needles, CA during our cross country RV trip, we tried taking Noa into the pool at the RV park, and she cried bloody murder. In all fairness the pool water was very cold and the jacuzzi was pretty hot, but she really didn't seem to enjoy the experience.
So this morning, we fitted Noa with her waterproof diaper and very cute little bathing suit and all went into the kiddie pool. Imagine a pool about 80 m2 with an average depth of 40 cm with about 40 kids and 40 adults in it. Yeah, pretty busy. And I hate to think what was in the water ...
The water was a nice warm temperature and Noa had no problem whatsoever going in. For the first 15 minutes she stayed very close to us, just watching all the other kids playing. She was also very fascinated with the LED lights in the ceiling that changed colours every 5 seconds.
After awhile, she started wandering around the pool, climbing up and down the stairs, and generally having a great time. We were always following her around as we didn't have any floaties on her, but the times where she fell into the water (head going under) she didn't seem to mind too much.
I guess we'll be making more of these swimming trips on a regular basis.
Too bad I couldn't take any pictures of Noa in her cute swimsuit, but I'm not allowed to take pictures in the swimming pool anymore (the court insisted!)
Today, we took our first trip to the swimming pool. We were a bit worried that Noa wouldn't like the pool. In April, when we were in Needles, CA during our cross country RV trip, we tried taking Noa into the pool at the RV park, and she cried bloody murder. In all fairness the pool water was very cold and the jacuzzi was pretty hot, but she really didn't seem to enjoy the experience.
So this morning, we fitted Noa with her waterproof diaper and very cute little bathing suit and all went into the kiddie pool. Imagine a pool about 80 m2 with an average depth of 40 cm with about 40 kids and 40 adults in it. Yeah, pretty busy. And I hate to think what was in the water ...
The water was a nice warm temperature and Noa had no problem whatsoever going in. For the first 15 minutes she stayed very close to us, just watching all the other kids playing. She was also very fascinated with the LED lights in the ceiling that changed colours every 5 seconds.
After awhile, she started wandering around the pool, climbing up and down the stairs, and generally having a great time. We were always following her around as we didn't have any floaties on her, but the times where she fell into the water (head going under) she didn't seem to mind too much.
I guess we'll be making more of these swimming trips on a regular basis.
Too bad I couldn't take any pictures of Noa in her cute swimsuit, but I'm not allowed to take pictures in the swimming pool anymore (the court insisted!)
Monday, September 22, 2008
3rd Annual Keizerstraat Poker Classic
Well, the 3rd Annual Keizerstraat Poker Classic / BBQ Party has come and gone and I still haven't won :(
The party was a blast though.
In a summer full of rainy and cool days, the day of the party turned out to be the only day that was actually warm and sunny!
The usual cast of characters were there, but we had some new faces too! Tony and Tracy brought their friends Scott and Sarah, to give a little American vibe to the party :)
My friends Lisa and Andre drove all the way from Ghent in Belgium to spend the day with us along with their sons Finn and Ben. Noa loved having new playmates and we all enjoyed the massive amounts of Belgium Brownies they brought along ... Delicious!!! It was nice to see them, as I've known Lisa since we were wee little people in LA (back when I could count my age on 2 hands).
After consuming a lot of meat and alcohol, and put Noa to bed, we got down to business (ooooh yeah, it's business time!) We had 11 players for the No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, so we started on 1 big table. For the first few levels, nobody busted out, but then the blinds started getting high, and people started dropping out.
It was another bad showing for the hosts, with yours truly coming in 5th (bubble). Scott took the crown, followed by Ramses, Joanda and Martin.
Well done to all and thanks to all those who came!
Here are some photos from the day:
Noa with the girls (Sarah and Tracy)
Noa playing with Ben
No mixing allowed! Germans up front, poker players in the middle and Americans in the back.
Hanging around the kitchen with Mark, Andre and Lisa
Snotty Noa.
It's business time!
This is how Ramses looks when he's bluffing.
High Stakes Poker
The party was a blast though.
In a summer full of rainy and cool days, the day of the party turned out to be the only day that was actually warm and sunny!
The usual cast of characters were there, but we had some new faces too! Tony and Tracy brought their friends Scott and Sarah, to give a little American vibe to the party :)
My friends Lisa and Andre drove all the way from Ghent in Belgium to spend the day with us along with their sons Finn and Ben. Noa loved having new playmates and we all enjoyed the massive amounts of Belgium Brownies they brought along ... Delicious!!! It was nice to see them, as I've known Lisa since we were wee little people in LA (back when I could count my age on 2 hands).
After consuming a lot of meat and alcohol, and put Noa to bed, we got down to business (ooooh yeah, it's business time!) We had 11 players for the No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament, so we started on 1 big table. For the first few levels, nobody busted out, but then the blinds started getting high, and people started dropping out.
It was another bad showing for the hosts, with yours truly coming in 5th (bubble). Scott took the crown, followed by Ramses, Joanda and Martin.
Well done to all and thanks to all those who came!
Here are some photos from the day:
Noa with the girls (Sarah and Tracy)
Noa playing with Ben
No mixing allowed! Germans up front, poker players in the middle and Americans in the back.
Hanging around the kitchen with Mark, Andre and Lisa
Snotty Noa.
It's business time!
This is how Ramses looks when he's bluffing.
High Stakes Poker
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Saturday Bike Ride
I hope you guys enjoy my new video of a day out that we took with our bikes around The Hague.
For those interested, the prison we passed by in the second half of the video is the one that houses people detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Charles Taylor, Radovan Karadzic, and (formely) Slobodan Milosevic.
For those interested, the prison we passed by in the second half of the video is the one that houses people detained by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), including Charles Taylor, Radovan Karadzic, and (formely) Slobodan Milosevic.
Lisbon Trip
During the last week of July, Margreet and I went to Lisbon for a 5 day vacation without Noa. This is the second year that Margreet's parents, Riek and Jan, came to Scheveningen to house/baby sit, while Margreet and I get a few days to reacquaint with each other.
Last year, we went to Barcelona and had a blast, discovered high limit poker and rich italian gelato. This year, we decided to go to Lisbon, as neither of us had been to Portugal before. I think this might be the last time, as well.
We had a nice time, but it wasn't anything special. Spain is much nicer, plus I'm able to communicate with people there.
We actually stayed in a town a half hour away from Lisbon called Estoril, known for its large casino (we didn't play) and its Formula 1 racetrack (no longer in service). It's a pretty area and you can walk along the seaside promenade to the next town, Cascais.
We took a day trip to the town of Sintra, a medieval type town in a hilly forested area and another day trip to Lisbon, where thanks to one of those top-free double-decker tourist bus, we were able to see most of the city sitting down :)
We did climb to the top of the Castle of São Jorge, right in the centre of Lisbon, giving incredible views of the city.
Here are some pics from our trip:
Relaxing by the Pool
In Sintra
In Sintra
The bull-fighting ring in Lisbon
In Lisbon
View from the Castle of São Jorge
Atop of the Castle of São Jorge
Last year, we went to Barcelona and had a blast, discovered high limit poker and rich italian gelato. This year, we decided to go to Lisbon, as neither of us had been to Portugal before. I think this might be the last time, as well.
We had a nice time, but it wasn't anything special. Spain is much nicer, plus I'm able to communicate with people there.
We actually stayed in a town a half hour away from Lisbon called Estoril, known for its large casino (we didn't play) and its Formula 1 racetrack (no longer in service). It's a pretty area and you can walk along the seaside promenade to the next town, Cascais.
We took a day trip to the town of Sintra, a medieval type town in a hilly forested area and another day trip to Lisbon, where thanks to one of those top-free double-decker tourist bus, we were able to see most of the city sitting down :)
We did climb to the top of the Castle of São Jorge, right in the centre of Lisbon, giving incredible views of the city.
Here are some pics from our trip:
Relaxing by the Pool
In Sintra
In Sintra
The bull-fighting ring in Lisbon
In Lisbon
View from the Castle of São Jorge
Atop of the Castle of São Jorge
Friday, July 25, 2008
From The Depths (Mima'amakim)
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Upon your return, the light will return to my eyes
I'm not finished, I'm not leaving the touch of your hands
May it come and light up to the sound of your laughter
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hands
In your ears I whisper, and ask
Who's that calling out to you tonight? Listen up
Who sings out loud to you, to your window?
Who gave his soul so you'd be happy?
Who will give a hand and build your home?
Who will give his life, and put it beneath yours?
Who will live as dust beneath your feet?
Who will love you more than all other loves?
Who will save you from every living spirit?
From the depths...
From the depths I called out to you
Come to you
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hand
In your ears I whisper, and ask
-- Idan Raichel
Come to me
Upon your return, the light will return to my eyes
I'm not finished, I'm not leaving the touch of your hands
May it come and light up to the sound of your laughter
From the depths I called out to you
Come to me
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hands
In your ears I whisper, and ask
Who's that calling out to you tonight? Listen up
Who sings out loud to you, to your window?
Who gave his soul so you'd be happy?
Who will give a hand and build your home?
Who will give his life, and put it beneath yours?
Who will live as dust beneath your feet?
Who will love you more than all other loves?
Who will save you from every living spirit?
From the depths...
From the depths I called out to you
Come to you
Against the moon that lights your way back to me
They spread out and melted against the touch of your hand
In your ears I whisper, and ask
-- Idan Raichel
Sunday, July 20, 2008
New Noa Videos Added
I'm pretty embarrassed about how long it's been since my last post.
Believe it or not, I actually started writing 2 different posts, but never got them completed and posted. Our US trip just created such great blog fodder that I was finding it hard to write anything compelling enough.
I do have some great photos, videos and stories from a trip Noa and I took to Cornwall and Devon last month, except that they're stuck on my phone (the photos and videos, that is) and I can't find a way to download them to a computer. Hopefully, I'll get that done this century.
In the meantime, enjoy a few new videos taken recently of Noa.
And keep on checking the blog ...
Believe it or not, I actually started writing 2 different posts, but never got them completed and posted. Our US trip just created such great blog fodder that I was finding it hard to write anything compelling enough.
I do have some great photos, videos and stories from a trip Noa and I took to Cornwall and Devon last month, except that they're stuck on my phone (the photos and videos, that is) and I can't find a way to download them to a computer. Hopefully, I'll get that done this century.
In the meantime, enjoy a few new videos taken recently of Noa.
And keep on checking the blog ...
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sophie Takes It Down
Today, we had our first BBQ and poker party of the year.
Luckily, this whole week, we had wonderful weather. A lot of our friends came to our place for some good times, good drinks, good meats, then some good poker!
Unfortunately, neither Margreet nor I made it to the money. However, Sophie beat Sasha heads-up for the big prize :)
Below are some of the nicer pics. Click here for the rest of the pics.
Luckily, this whole week, we had wonderful weather. A lot of our friends came to our place for some good times, good drinks, good meats, then some good poker!
Unfortunately, neither Margreet nor I made it to the money. However, Sophie beat Sasha heads-up for the big prize :)
Below are some of the nicer pics. Click here for the rest of the pics.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Liberation Day 2008
So we've been home for over a week now and we're almost all completely over jet lag. Noa has been sleeping the whole night (more or less) for the last 2 nights and we're all back to the same old routine, except for me, that is, as I'm starting to look at various career moves - but that's for another post.
Every May 5th here in Holland, they celebrate Liberation Day. There's no real Independence Day here as there is in the US, since I'm not aware that Holland declared independence from anyone (I might be corrected here). In fact, as a former colonial power, there are probably many countries that celebrate Independence Day from Holland!
So the closest thing we have here is the day Holland was liberated from the Nazis in 1945 by the combined armies of the US, Canada and the British after a 5 year brutal occupation.
The sad thing is that although it is a national holiday, you only get an extra day off every 5 years. It falling on a Monday this year meant that we had to celebrate it on Sunday, which we did. On a warm and sunny day, Margreet and I strapped Noa in the car seat and drove the hour and a half to Den Bosch in the south of Holland, where Margreet's older brother Freek (pron. Frake) lives with wife Helen and daughter Hannah.
We saw a funny thing along the way to Den Bosch. We passed a US military convoy. This convoy, however, was made up of a military jeep and half a dozen motorcycles, all dated back to WWII and manned probably by Dutch collectors. On the lead jeep waved a large US flag. In fact, all over the country, you could find people waving or planting US, Canadian and British flags on Liberation Day. Very nice to see that over 60 years after liberation, the Dutch are very grateful to these countries.
In Den Boshch, we met Margreet's whole family (including 5 of the 6 granddaughters), sat on the patio, chillin', drinkin', playing a little football (uh, I mean soccer?), running after all the children, then had a nice chinese dinner. I was quizzed on whether I knew all 12 of the Dutch provinces, and with a little help from Margreet's mother, Riek, I did pretty well :)
We made a couple of nice photos of the family day out.
Every May 5th here in Holland, they celebrate Liberation Day. There's no real Independence Day here as there is in the US, since I'm not aware that Holland declared independence from anyone (I might be corrected here). In fact, as a former colonial power, there are probably many countries that celebrate Independence Day from Holland!
So the closest thing we have here is the day Holland was liberated from the Nazis in 1945 by the combined armies of the US, Canada and the British after a 5 year brutal occupation.
The sad thing is that although it is a national holiday, you only get an extra day off every 5 years. It falling on a Monday this year meant that we had to celebrate it on Sunday, which we did. On a warm and sunny day, Margreet and I strapped Noa in the car seat and drove the hour and a half to Den Bosch in the south of Holland, where Margreet's older brother Freek (pron. Frake) lives with wife Helen and daughter Hannah.
We saw a funny thing along the way to Den Bosch. We passed a US military convoy. This convoy, however, was made up of a military jeep and half a dozen motorcycles, all dated back to WWII and manned probably by Dutch collectors. On the lead jeep waved a large US flag. In fact, all over the country, you could find people waving or planting US, Canadian and British flags on Liberation Day. Very nice to see that over 60 years after liberation, the Dutch are very grateful to these countries.
In Den Boshch, we met Margreet's whole family (including 5 of the 6 granddaughters), sat on the patio, chillin', drinkin', playing a little football (uh, I mean soccer?), running after all the children, then had a nice chinese dinner. I was quizzed on whether I knew all 12 of the Dutch provinces, and with a little help from Margreet's mother, Riek, I did pretty well :)
We made a couple of nice photos of the family day out.
Click here to see the rest of the photos from that day.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Cost of Gasoline - part 2
Funny thing, just days after the previous post where I compared the price of gasoline in the US to what we pay here in Holland, I read an article which compares the price of gasoline in about 150 countries.
Damn, I had to move to the country with the 5th highest cost in the world! I should have moved to Venezuela!
Here is the link to the article.
Damn, I had to move to the country with the 5th highest cost in the world! I should have moved to Venezuela!
Here is the link to the article.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Cost of Gasoline and Cost of Our Trip - part 1
We've been back for a few days now and we're still not recovered from the jetlag.
I think that if it were just up to Margreet and I, we would have been over it already. Unfortunately, Noa still wants to sleep in the day and play around at night. Hopefully, this will settle itself soon!
When I told people that we were doing a cross-country RV trip, quite a few people mentioned that they had always dreamed of doing this themselves. Indeed it was quite an experience, one we'll remember for a lifetime, but I thought I would mention the cost of doing so, as we way underestimated how much this trip was going to set us back (not to say we wouldn't have gone through with it).
Renting the RV - about $2400
We were lucky in this regard. The company we rented the RV from actually wanted the RV moved from New Jersey to Seattle, which was why we travelled the way we did. Originally, we wanted to go from NY to LA, but the other companies we contacted wanted over $5000, which included a good $2000-$3000 for a one-way drop-off fee. Since we were doing them a favor taking the RV to Seattle, they waived the one-way drop-off fee. How nice of them!
Gasoline (petrol) - about $2300
When I left the States in 2004, I remember the cost of gasoline reaching record highs of $2.30 a gallon or EUR 0.40 a liter (all conversions assume EUR 1.00 = $1.50). And not knowing that the cost of gasoline had gone up in the meantime, I planned the trip accordingly.
In reality, the cost of gasoline ranged from $3.20/gal (EUR 0.56/l) on the East Coast to $3.90/gal (EUR 0.68/l) on the West Coast. When you are planning a trip of over 5,200 miles (8,300 km) and you're driving a vehicle that consumes 8 mpg (3.4 km per liter), it tends to add up.
For those of you reading this in the US, let me tell you how much we pay for gasoline here in Holland. The cheapest gasoline here costs about EUR 1.50 per liter. That translates to$8.60 /gal. Think of that next time you complain about the rising cost of gasoline.
RV Site Hook Ups - around $550.
We didn't know how legal nor how safe it was to pull up along the side of the road, and to be honest, we didn't really feel like finding out. RV-ing is a common and popular pasttime in the US and you can easily find these RV parks in most towns and parks. In fact, a lot of them are quite nice. You can hook your RV up to electricity, water, sewer, and cable, and most offer free wi-fi (wireless internet). The state parks are often the worst, as they sometimes offer electricity and water. When we were in Ventura, we had nothing - which is OK, as the RV has water tanks and sizeable sewer tanks. Most places cost $25-$30 per night, but would be extra had we extra people or extra vehicles.
All told, we spent about $5200 on the rental, gasoline and RV hook-up fees.
This amount does not include the cost of food, airfare, entertainment, nor the costs resulting from our little accident, which set us back $1200. It's amazing how much a little dent can end up costing!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
From The Hotel Room at Seattle Airport
This will be the last post from the US.
We have returned the RV today (Friday), got a ride to a hotel right by the airport and we will be taking our return flight tomorrow lunchtime.
The hotel we're staying at is the Radisson and we love it. The shower has 2 flat showerheads, giving you a "surround-sound" drenching! We have free wi-fi (I love wi-fi and I love free!). The king size bed has a remote that adjusts the firmness/softness of your side of the bed! To be honest, I was playing around with it and couldn't feel much of a difference. Then Margreet laid down on her side and I played around with the right hand side controls and she complained that she didn't feel much anything either. But I was! So apart from the "L" controling the right side of the bed and the "R" controlling the left side, it's lovely!
We spent the night in Victoria, Canada with our friends John and Shauna. We had to take the ferry there and back, and Noa loved walking around the ferry, being showered with adoration by little old ladies which she completely ignored. John is the man responsible for Margreet and I meeting and has been setting up his life in Victoria after leaving Holland over a year ago. We miss his donations to our weekly poker evenings and my weekly thrashing on the squash court, but life moves on and friends move away. It was nice to catch up, John showed us his new practice and then around town, then they made us a nice spicy dinner. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon.
I took very few pictures in Canada. Just a few from the ferry.
We have returned the RV today (Friday), got a ride to a hotel right by the airport and we will be taking our return flight tomorrow lunchtime.
The hotel we're staying at is the Radisson and we love it. The shower has 2 flat showerheads, giving you a "surround-sound" drenching! We have free wi-fi (I love wi-fi and I love free!). The king size bed has a remote that adjusts the firmness/softness of your side of the bed! To be honest, I was playing around with it and couldn't feel much of a difference. Then Margreet laid down on her side and I played around with the right hand side controls and she complained that she didn't feel much anything either. But I was! So apart from the "L" controling the right side of the bed and the "R" controlling the left side, it's lovely!
We spent the night in Victoria, Canada with our friends John and Shauna. We had to take the ferry there and back, and Noa loved walking around the ferry, being showered with adoration by little old ladies which she completely ignored. John is the man responsible for Margreet and I meeting and has been setting up his life in Victoria after leaving Holland over a year ago. We miss his donations to our weekly poker evenings and my weekly thrashing on the squash court, but life moves on and friends move away. It was nice to catch up, John showed us his new practice and then around town, then they made us a nice spicy dinner. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon.
I took very few pictures in Canada. Just a few from the ferry.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wild and Wacky Washington Adventures
Well, it's hard to believe that we've already accomplished 23 days of driving across America and that we're only a few days from returning home. Although we both enjoy being on vacation, we're both ready to no longer be on the road. These last few days have had us go through some very pretty Northwestern countryside, as well as a hair-raising adventure (for those with hair, of course).
After reaching Portland, we turned east again and drove up the Columbia river, for what turned out to be a very scenic drive. The Columbia river is a very wide and fast moving river flanked on both sides by hills covered with many trees (pine, I think). A railway runs alongside as well offering some postcard-looking views. Unfortunately and true to form for this part of the country, it was raining off and on for the last few days, so good pictures were hard to come by. But here are a few:
Then we veered North again and headed to Yakima, where my friend Tamara lives with husband Tim and adorable kids Jacqueline (5) and Nathaniel (2). Tamara was one of my first friends when I moved back to Ventura in the early 90's and it's great that we've been able to remain friends for so long through our countless moves. Now Tamara can run a clinic on hospitality. Every effort was made to make us feel right at home, including little pictures of us all over the guest bedroom to remind us who we were when we woke up. Seriously, nice touch :) Good cooking, good company, good times! If they didn't live so far, we'd be there every month!!! Unfortuntely, Tim was already at work when we got the cameras out and Noa wasn't cooperating:
After setting us off with a hearty breakfast, we drove toward the Seattle area over a few very high mountain ranges. Going up one very long hill, I was keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. Already going through the California desert a week earlier, we noticed the temperature going up and had to refill the car with coolant and water. This time, somewhere in the isolated hills between Yakima and Ellensburg, the needle was creeping up again as we were going uphill. I slowed down so that the engine didn't have to work so hard and the needle steadied, but was still close to high. Then it started climbing again and I wanted to pull over on this 2 lane highway, but there was only a narrow shoulder, just wide enough for the RV to park, but way too close to the right hand lane and trucks were coming by quick. So stopping here would be my last option.
Unfortunately, I ran out of options. The needle suddenly shot to the maximum and steam started pouring out from under the hood. If I didn't pull over onto the narrow shoulder, I would be stopping soon on the highway itself. I managed to pull the RV onto the shoulder, so that there was about a foot between the painted line denoting the edge of the right hand lane with the edge of the RV. Trucks and cars were going by very quickly and pretty close. I really didn't want to stay there too long. I opened the hood and opened the coolant reservoir (carefully) and since I had no more coolant, dumped some of our drinking water into the empty reservoir. We waited a little bit, then started the engine. Carefully continuing up the hill at low speed, the temperature was holding pretty steady, and so we continued slowly for the next 20 odd miles until we reached Ellensburg and bought some more coolant and filled up the reservoir properly. So far after another 200 miles (including uphill climbs) we haven't had a repeat, so fingers crossed!!!
Driving along the Interstate 90 between Ellensburg and Seattle goes quite high. We were basically driving right by ski slopes and snow was piled high by the sides of the road. Funnily enough, the ski slopes were closed despite there being tons of snow on them. Maybe season is over... Who knows!!! Unfortunately, the weather was rainy with low clouds, so we could not see Mt. Rainier and other tall mountains in the area. Would have been nice.
We didn't go into Seattle, rather around it and up the Olympic Peninsula. Tonight (Wednesday) we are in an empty RV site in Port Angeles, from where we will take the ferry early tomorrow morning to Victoria in British Columbia in Canada! Yeah!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
California Cruisin'
I'm not saying this because I come from California, but California has to be the prettiest state in the country.
On Saturday, we drove up the PCH, a mostly one-lane highway following the contours of a rugged coastline. At times, it's very windy and steep, but the views are breathtaking. I have to admit that one corner, I took a bit a very sharp corner a little to narrowly and cheated over the yellow median line and was greeted with an oncoming biker with an adament one-finger-salute. I made my peace with biker nation when I was given the regular five-finger-salute as I pulled over and let a whole convoy pass later on. You know me, I'm down with the bikers :)
On Saturday night, we spent with my friend Nasser (or as we called him when we were younger, "friend-father"). He lived with us when I was a young boy (from the ages 6 through 10) and had an fatherly influence in my life well beyond just those years. He knew my mother very well and it was nice for Margreet to learn about my mother a bit and get a picture of my life as a kid (as my recollection is quite hazy). We also went through a lot of old pictures of my childhood, many I don't even recall seeing. Nasser is one of those people who has an uplifting affect on other people, and I can say that I always feel I have more positive energy after I visit him, and this time was no exception. Noa had a field day in his house and learned to climb up and down the 3 wide steps from his living room to his dining room, and just generally running around the place. Thanks for the nice stay, Nasser.
The next day, we drove from Santa Cruz to Redding, a full 300 mile drive that wasn't too exciting. However, toward the end of the drive, as we approached Redding, we could see the snow-capped Mt. Shasta looming large over the other moutains. The next day's drive would have us driving right by it.
Today (Tuesday), we headed north and uphill. Immediately, we were surrounded by mountains and lakes. Just beautiful. Interstate 5 runs just 10-15 miles west of the summit Mt. Shasta, which stands at over 14,000 feet. There was snow covering the whole of Mt. Shasta and the tops of many other mountains in the area. In fact, it snowed a few times while we were driving through as well.
Tonight we pulled into an RV camp just north of Eugene, Oregon. Tomorrow, we will stay with my friends Tamara and Tim, who I haven't seen in ages, then on Thursday we'll stay with our friends John and Shauna in Victoria, British Columbia who we haven't seen since they left the Netherlands last year.
I haven't seen all of them. On this trip, we just entered our 14th (Oregon), but we've seen a nice sample already. California rules.
The last three days had us travelling up the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) from Morro Bay to Santa Cruz, then up the Central Valley to Redding, then right by Mount Shasta to the Oregon border.On Saturday, we drove up the PCH, a mostly one-lane highway following the contours of a rugged coastline. At times, it's very windy and steep, but the views are breathtaking. I have to admit that one corner, I took a bit a very sharp corner a little to narrowly and cheated over the yellow median line and was greeted with an oncoming biker with an adament one-finger-salute. I made my peace with biker nation when I was given the regular five-finger-salute as I pulled over and let a whole convoy pass later on. You know me, I'm down with the bikers :)
On Saturday night, we spent with my friend Nasser (or as we called him when we were younger, "friend-father"). He lived with us when I was a young boy (from the ages 6 through 10) and had an fatherly influence in my life well beyond just those years. He knew my mother very well and it was nice for Margreet to learn about my mother a bit and get a picture of my life as a kid (as my recollection is quite hazy). We also went through a lot of old pictures of my childhood, many I don't even recall seeing. Nasser is one of those people who has an uplifting affect on other people, and I can say that I always feel I have more positive energy after I visit him, and this time was no exception. Noa had a field day in his house and learned to climb up and down the 3 wide steps from his living room to his dining room, and just generally running around the place. Thanks for the nice stay, Nasser.
The next day, we drove from Santa Cruz to Redding, a full 300 mile drive that wasn't too exciting. However, toward the end of the drive, as we approached Redding, we could see the snow-capped Mt. Shasta looming large over the other moutains. The next day's drive would have us driving right by it.
Today (Tuesday), we headed north and uphill. Immediately, we were surrounded by mountains and lakes. Just beautiful. Interstate 5 runs just 10-15 miles west of the summit Mt. Shasta, which stands at over 14,000 feet. There was snow covering the whole of Mt. Shasta and the tops of many other mountains in the area. In fact, it snowed a few times while we were driving through as well.
Tonight we pulled into an RV camp just north of Eugene, Oregon. Tomorrow, we will stay with my friends Tamara and Tim, who I haven't seen in ages, then on Thursday we'll stay with our friends John and Shauna in Victoria, British Columbia who we haven't seen since they left the Netherlands last year.
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