View of the Shopper's Street

Oxford Street nowadays offers good value-for-money for shopping. Primark, though not everyones favourite, has their largest store here and offers real bargains. It does bring a different variety to the normal brands along this largest shopping street in the world.

Obviously one could not resist going to Marks and Spenser - obviously for the biscuits, Topshop and Clarks. But also to avoid those rediculous shops like Selfridges. Other non starters are HMV, Debenhams and House of Frasers. For Bruneian, the Woolworths store along Edgware road is always something they could not resist not visiting if happened to be in London - a nostalgic trip back to bygone student days.

Chocolate Fondue

Hey look at this! Chocolate flowing like a fountain creating a chocolate waterfall. Its best to dip with strawberries or marshmallows.

But first the chocolate has to be heated up in the basin at the bottom to make it into liquid. Then it is transported up to the top of the fountain from where it will flow down. It does look very messy at the end. But worth having a go.

Bicester Village

On the way back to London we passed Oxfordshire and stopped over at a well known shopping outlet called the Bicester Village.

This factory outlet got about 100 stores offering high-end brands more familiar to those living in UK. It was raining and at 10 degC is unusually cold for the month of May.

It tool another hour to drive back to London.

Shakespeare Lived Here

William Shakespeare lived well in the 15th Century in what could be described as a grand house. His father, John Shakespeare was a successful glove maker and so could afford to live somewhat affluently. This house has now been turned into a musem and one could go on a tour with a guide explaining on the details of the house and how people lived in those days.

Much Ado About Nothing

On Sunday we went to Stratfordshire, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. This greatest of English writer was born in the 15th Century in this now famous town in Uk. Stratford-upon-Avon is one of the 20 must visit places in UK. Its nearly 2 hours drive from London along M40 just before reaching Conventry and Birmingham. Unfortunately the weather during the weekend was quite wet and windy. Otherwise it would have been one of the busiest bank holiday weekend in UK.

Back to Shakespeare, I remember I took English Literature as a subject and that covered Shakespeare's work such as A Midsummer Night's dream, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar and Macbeth. I flopped.

Sunset

What do you do if you are stuck in your car for 6 hours. Watch the sunset go down as you realise precious time has been wasted on the road. The traffic jam was quite weird. At one section you could ride at 135 km/hr. Then after a few km, the whole traffic stands to a halt.

In Holland the maximum speed on the motorway is 120km/hr. There is another 7% allowance given before you get fined for speeding. So in theory you could go as fast as 128km/hr before you start to flout the law. In France the maximum speed is 130km/hr , meaning you can go as fast as 139km/hr. In Germany, the car floor is the only limit.

Jamming like Bob Marley does best

Another long weekend with the last public holiday before Christmas. We went to London again (macam keMiri saja) because the kids really love to go there again. This time we thought we were smart, leaving early at 3.30 pm on Friday. But what a trip.

We already got stuck before Rotterdam. Apparently lots of people have the same mind as us. Then we got stuck for an hour in Antwerpen before the Kennedy Tunnel (see photo). And lastly a huge delay along the motorway between Gent and Brugge. All in all it took us 6 hours to drive 336 km in what was supposed to take 3.5 hours on a normal day. We reached London at around 11.30 pm UK time.

Brain Drain

It sounds like utter desperation. In Borneo Bull yesterday Bruneian are told not to hesitate seeking employment overseas. This is because of current high unemployment amongst graduates. It does sounds like somebody finally throwing the towel on trying to create enough jobs albeit the country being small and still rich. With unemployment, social impacts are bound to be felt more and more.

So living and travelling in places like UK does bring your mind away from these issues. This is even more if you happen to live near Baker and Spice where you can spend Sunday morning having breakfast while watching the world happily revolve around you.

Brunei Hospitality

Visiting London is always enjoyable. Ask any Bruneian. Our HM just spent the last 2-3 weeks there.

For two nights we were invited for dinner by our cousins who live in Camden and Queens Park just a few miles north of Paddington. Surprisingly those places are quite nice areas to live with plenty of local shops and within travelling distance to Central London. They are also near to Finchley, Willesden and Kilburn. Houses are renting at 2000 pounds per month - pretty expensive. Its worst in Central London where Brunei Embassy pays around 6000 pounds for its staff. On the bright side, government schools are free. In Uk there is no charge for attending both Primary and Secondary schools. Don't get confuse this with public school. In England the term "public school" refers to fee-charging independent schools.

Stonehenge

There are many theories regarding how Stonehenge came about. My favourite one is that it is a British conspiracy to build something odd just to attract tourist. What ever it is, archaeologist think that it was built around 3200 BC. I don't really care and don't surprise me a big deal. In Egypt, mega structures were already built as far back as 5000 BC. So this is like building a small garden shed in the backgarden for the ancient Egyptian.

According to Wiki this site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites. Again another conspiracy to boost tourism.

What's across the Fence

Stonehenge is located at Salisbury. Unfortunately the gate was already closed by the time we reached there at 7.30pm. We were not alone as many others were also dissapointed.

But at least we have been there and seen it. Well ...actually only seeing it behind the fence. At least the 8 kids in our entourage seemed to be enjoying the day trip.

Car Convoy

From Bath, we set off to Salisbury. Its about an hour drive through the country side.

The road goes up and down the many valleys in this part of the world.

The positive side is that the scenery around you looks very beautiful. This is what is better known as the famous English countryside scenery.

Roman Bath

On Saturday, on FA Cup Final day, we drove westwards from London to Bath. The journey took 2 hours. We went for park-and-ride meaning you park your car just outside the city and then take a ride on a bus to go into the city. Its very convenient and save you all the hassle of trying to find parking spot within the city.

Bath is in South West England and is most famous for its Romans baths fed by three hot springs. The Romans built an extensive building complex around the hot springs, this is now Bath's main tourist attraction. The city is also a lively place with the main shopping street lined up by all the famous High Street shops.

Where's the Big Whale

The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums along Cromwell Road in South Kensington. This place is worth a visit for both adult and children alike. And its free!

The museum is home to some 70 million items of life and earth science specimens. Split into 4 zones - the Blue Zone houses the dinasours and mammals, Green Zone for the birds, plants and so on, the Red Zone houses the Earth exhibitions and the Orange Zone for Darwin and wildlife gardens.

We only toured the Red and the Blue. Unfortunately the Big Whale section was closed, apparently the big whale was being washed.

The Prime Minister in the House

From the London Eye, one can directly see the Downing Street, the official residences of the UK Prime Minister (No. 10) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (No. 11).

Downing Street is within a walking distance from the House of Parliment and the ground of the Buckingham Palace is just right at the end of the street.

In the past there were plans to build a more modern building in the Downing Street. Again British being very conservative, the plans never took off.

House of Parliment

From the London Eye, one can easily see and recognise many famous landmarks. Across the River Thames is this building where the two Houses of the UK Parliment (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) are located. The building is actually called the Palace of Westminster.

The complex has been built in bits and pieces stretching back to 10th Century. At one side of the building is the clock tower which houses the famous bell 'Big Ben'.

The World's Biggest Bicycle Spoke

The best place to start viewing London is by going up in one of the 32 capsules of the London Eye, also known as the Millennium Wheel.

It is currently the largest in the world to be beaten by Singapore in a couple of years time. Each capsule holds about 25 people and takes about 30 minutes to complete a revolution.

It is a gigantic structure, when at the top it easily towers all the building around it.

Titchborne Row

This is the place we stayed, near to Edgware Road and about 100m from Hyde Park. Hotels in London may cost you an arm and a leg, so consider yourself lucky if you happen to have close relatives or families in London. This place is also conveniently located near to many restaurants along Edgware Road and of course within a walking distance to Oxford Street.

London has not changed much, the only difference I noticed is the increase in traffic so driving is not recommended. We parked our car in the basement park and rather used the Tube to travel around during daytime.

London via Euro Tunnel

Its a long 4-days weekend and this time we headed to London. The last time we were there was 9 years ago in 1998. Such a long time ago! At that time we also drove from Holland. The whole car journey took about 7 hours.

It takes about 3.5 hours from The Hague to reach Calais in France before going on the shuttle train into the Channel Tunnel to reach UK. It takes about 35 minutes to cross under the English Channel, costing between 90 to 140 Euro depending on when you book the ticket. The Channel Tunnel is some 50 km long and started to be used in 1994.

Bookworm in the House

This is what happened if there is a bookworm in the house. Fiz been reading all of these in the last 8 months and slowly piling them up. This doesn’t include those books that she borrowed from the school library.

English books can be found in a couple of English bookstores in The Hague. The biggest is the American Bookstore which has a wide selection and also gives 10% discounts for members. There is an even bigger bookshop (can’t remember the name) along Amsterdam main shopping street – Kalverstraat.

Shop ‘Til You Drop

Fiz has been keeping all her shopping receipts and organized them in bundles. She has been doing well with her shopping apparently. This must be a new found hobby amongst teens now days. It is a good sign that teens nowdays are more conversant when it comes to money matter.

Bruneian needs to be prepared for the inevitable when the county’s economy no longer can rely on the exploitation of its current fast dwindling reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Weekend’s news that the Methanol project finally got its financing sorted out is good news. But that still rely on our precious gas reserves. It won’t be a surprise when reality sags in the near future that we did not do enough to prepare for the future. Philippine used to be the most developed economy in Asia but has degenerated to oblivion.

Across the Bridge

This photo was taken while we were in Giethoorn two weekends ago. A draw bridge, a bride that can be retracted to allow boat to pass through, is common sight in Holland. The process can be quick – less than 5 minutes, depending of course how many boats are passing through.

The alternative is to build a short underpass below the canal or river. Again this can be found in many locations here.

Football is a Funny Game

In the old days, we used to call our favourite playground as 'Wembley'. Nowadays that name has disappeared and I struggle to find a nice name for our little practice ground in the backyard.

Watched the two Champions League semis this midweek - what a difference. The first game between Liverpool and Chelsea was all about true passions for the game shown at all levels - the players, the managers and the supporters. The second between AC Milan and Man U was a complete mismatch - with only one team showing the initiative while Man U being lethargic and played like a third-tier league team. Blaming tiredness might be valid but football is all about passion, the appetite to win must be there.

So in three weeks time 2005 final repeats itself - Liverpool vs AC Milan. Who will win?

Changes Stimulate Progress

So the bikes were out and tyres pumped. The kids are having fun with badminton and football in the backyard these days.

The weather has been very dry (a drought some Dutch would described it). Barbeque is banned in parks and outside. There has been no rain for at least a month or two now. Grounds are starting to dry up and crack. But because of the high water level, as The Netherlands is mostly below sea level, trees are still growing and look very healthy. It is green everywhere. A welcome transformation from the bleak grey winter scenery.

The good thing about the four seasons climate is that you continuously see changes in your surrounding. Nature reacts actively to the changing environment. What about us?

The Backyard Transformed

Our backyard has now been transformed thanks to a Romanian. It costs 16 Euro an hour to hire a manual labourer here. He toiled for 3 weeks and spending nearly 15 hours to trim the trees, cut the hedges and clear-up the wood pile and all sort of things that were dumped by previous tennants before. Its now ready for the Spring and the Summer!

Open burning is banned in The Netherlands. So a large green bin is provided by the City for weekly collection of anything organic. But this was not enough to dump the clearings in one go. So I have to something like over 30 large bags sent to the city's dump collection area. Luckily I had a rental car in one of the weekend!

Back to Memory Lane

Finally we reached our destination. Assen is just over 2 hours drive from The Hague. We used to live here in 1996 till 1999 in a nice neighbourhood called Maarsdijk. The street name is called Volmachtendreef. This is our first trip back since then – nearly after 8 years!

Assen has hardly changed except for some works on widening the ring road. Our former house (photo) seems to a bit run-down, heard that most of these rental houses are up for sale. One thing we really missed about Assen is the hopelessly delicious spare ribs. The restaurant is still operating after all these years and sure enough this was our opportunity to take some to take back. There is a Bruneian family in Assen – they graciously hosted us and shared their Spanish holiday experience. My mind is already working overtime on this one!

Venice of the North

After Lelystad we went to Giethoorn, a town in the province of Overijssel also known in the Netherlands as "Venice of the North". This is the place where you can do camping, stay in holiday houses or rent a boat to ride along the many canals. We went for a picnic along one of the canal – menu was nasi, sambal pusu, ayam goreng, and satay!

The kids even brought with them badminton racquets and football. But alas it was quite windy and what was supposed to be a pleasant and warm temperature turn out to be a bit cold to stay too long out there.

Personally this place reminded me of one of my last act when I was working in the Netherlands before. I shot a 3D seismic survey in what is an environmentally sensitive area.

Harvesting the Wind Energy

Last Sunday we went north and passed a small city called Lelystad. Its one hour drive from the Hague. Lelystad, built on reclaimed land, is approximately 5 meters below sea level. The big part of the whole area called the province of Flevoland is surrounded by lots of water – famous ones are the Markermeer and IJsselmeer. Also by woodlands, parks and flat farmland.

This is also the location for the largest number of wind turbines in the Netherlands used for the generation of wind power electricity. In the whole of Netherlands there are now more than 1800 of these wind turbines built mainly onshore but lately also in the offshore. These wind turbines are real awesome structures when seen close.