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.

Springing with Life

Its officially spring. And it has been very hot, unusual to have temperature reaching 29 deg C. Again like all other months recently, this has been the hottest April ever on record.

Flowers are really blooming. Holland's countryside is at its most colourful with tulips laid like giant carpets. The best way to appreciate this is to go to Keukenhof between The Hague and Amsterdam. With 64 acres, it is the world's largest flower garden and has been held for 50 years. Keukenhof is open from the last week of March to mid-May accomodating 700,000 visitors. We spent 3-hours there and that was enough.

The idea for the flower garden was mooted to have a flower exhibit where growers could show off their hybrids which will help Netherlands as it is the world's largest exporter of flowers.

Nile Cruise

Our last night was spent on a 2-hours river cruise on the Nile where we had dinner and some entertainments. First one was an Egyptian belly dance!!! This dancing uses movements in every muscle of the body integrated with the music’s rhythm. The dancer’s goal is to visually communicate to the audience with the emotion and rhythm of the music.

The next one was more of a hypnotic dance, like a Turkish tribal dance where the male dancer keep spinning himself for tens of minutes without getting dizzy at all. At the same time performing all sort of things and making jokes.

The Courtyard

Typical of a Turkish mosque, there is a large courtyard in the Muhammad Ali Mosque measuring 50 by 50 metres with a freestanding building in the centre. This building contains ablution fountains and facilities for washing before entering the mosque. The courtyard is enclosed by covered galleries. We were reminded by our tour guide of a brass clock which was presented by King Louis Philippe of France in 1845. The clock was reciprocated with the obelisk of Luxor now standing in Place de la Concorde in Paris.

The mosque itself was constructed in a square plan. The main floor material used is alabaster or marble – hence it is often referred as The Alabaster Mosque. Muhammad Ali tomb is located inside the mosque.

The City of a Thousand Minarets

Cairo is said to contain more than 2000 mosques. The best way to appreciate this is to go out at night to see the city skyline lighted up with thousands of minarets. The grandeous and often used for showcase to visiting dignitaries is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Design along Turkish lines, it took 18 years to build starting in 1830.

Mohammed Ali, a lieutenant in the Ottoman Empire took Egypt after a brief French rule of Egypt. He intrigued his way to become governor of Egypt as part of Turkish rule but in reality he was the ruler without any challenge from the Sultan in Istanbul. He was famous for killing 500 Mamluks or the local Egyptian leaders after giving a lavish party. It is ironic such a man of barbaric proportion is remembered by the Mosque he built. He was said to keep his horses in a disused Mamluk Mosque nearby.

From Amman to Cairo

We flew from Amman to Cairo on Royal Jordanian Airline. Our last hotel was Soffitel La Sphinx located very close to the Pyramids (see the photo to be convinced). This was our 7th hotel during the trip. Hotel grading in Egypt is meaningless. In Cairo don't ever check-in into any 4-star hotel or lower.

1) Cairo - Hotel Maadi, supposed to be 4-star but looked like 2-star.
2) Aswan - Hotel Isis, nice hotel on the river bank.
3) Luxor - Le Merridien Hotel, excellent, voted as the 6th best hotel in whole Africa
4) Nuweiba - Nuweiba Village Resort, nice and a typical beach hotel.
5) Petra - Grand View Hotel, nice but seems to be overwhelmed coping with full house.
6) Petra - Petra Panaromic Hotel, excellent and good view.
7) Cairo - Soffitel La Sphinx - a typical Soffitel chain - always excellent.

The Bedouin Way

Never realized till now that there are still Bedouins roaming around living in their traditional way in Jordan. These are the Nomadic Arabs, deeply proud of themselves. They live in tents scattered across the highlands, their flock of sheeps grazing like time has never moved. Camels, traditionally associated as Bedouin's best friend, are now often replaced by a Landrover or Toyota 4WD.

We went to a Bedouin camp to try their food - buffet style. The Bedouin oven couldn't be simpler. Simply dig a hole in the sand and burn enough firewood to make glowing coals. Seal the oven containing the meat, cover it with sand and cook for an hour or two. Yummy!

Floating on the Dead Sea

Been-there-done-that experience.

This hyper-saline water provided bouyancy that you simply float on it. It was weird, something that is hard to understand. You can hear squels of surprises from people visiting the place for the first time. We were!

I always struggle to float but here I could sleep or even read book while floating without fearing of getting drown. The kids and me floated on the water but only for a short while as the salty water starts to make our bodies itchy and uncomfortable. We needed a good shower and scrubbing to remove the coat of salts on our body.

Pampering at the Dead Sea Spa

Most people come to the Dead Sea to pamper themselves in a seashore spa. We went to the well known Dead Sea Spa which has more focus on medical treatment, with an in-house dermatologist. We had mud application which cost US$30 per person.

The mud is black in colour and contains various minerals at high concentration levels like calcium, magnesium, iodine, bromine which are good for allergies, improve skin and so on. The black mud used in the spa extracted from the Dead Sea was applied hot to the skin. After the whole body is applied, you are then wrapped up in plastic and covered fully with blanket. The whole body felt very hot and seems like the skins are reacting to some sort of drastic acid reaction. It felt like ages even though it was only for 25 minutes. A good shower to clear up the mud was a much needed relief.

The Promised Land from atop Mount Nebo

It took us 3 hours to reach the Dead Sea from Petra. On the way, we stopped at Madaba and Mount Nebo, holy sites for Christian pilgrimage. Mount Nebo is a mountain in Western Jordan where the Dead Sea and the West Bank can be seen on a clear day.

Mount Nebo is where the Prophet Musa according to Christian's bible was given a view of the promised land that God was giving to the Hebrews. Pope John Paul II visited the site during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The land is amazingly fertile and green. Up the mountain it was quite cool and breezy with thick clouds clambering not too far above.

Petra Panorama Hotel

This beautiful hotel is built at the top of the mountain which surround the northern side of the valley of Wadi Musa where Petra Rose-red city is located. The lobby is located at top floor followed by 11 storeys of hotel rooms going down the cliff. So it was quite awkward when using the lift -going down from the lobby rather than going up!

The hotel location offers wonderful view of the mountains where on a clear day one could see a white building on top of one of the mountain. This is mountain of Nabi Harun or Jebel Harun in Arabic. On the summit is a white shrine said to cover the grave of Nabi Harun.

Wadi Rum Panorama

Wadi Rum is now one of Jordan's important tourist destinations. This isolated area offers lots of activities such as camel trekking, rock climbing amongst the massive rock formations, 4WD scrambling, camping and so on. You can spend a few hours or afew days.

This shot was taken at the back of our 4WD. The weather was cool but later on we were hit by a mild sand storm. We also enjoyed a Bedouin-style lunch.

Dune Bashing in Wadi Rum

Jordan's far south belongs to the desert and Bedouin. Wadi Rum is where the desert opening up an enchanting moon-like landscapes like those in the Starwars movies. It was made famous by the Lawrence of Arabia film. Many of the spectacular scenery are reachable only by 4WD.

We went on a dune bashing, also known as desert safari, using 4WD to explore sand dunes. This was the most memorable part of the whole trip for the children. We looked for the steepest dune and raced up and down on it on the 4WD. Dangerous but really exhillarating. We spent a total of 2-hours doing excursion across the vast Wadi.

Petra Rose-red City

If you only go to one place in Jordan, make it Petra located at Wadi Musa half way to the South of Jordan. It took us 3 hours to reach from the port town of Aqaba. Petra means rock in Greek, home to 20 thousands Nabataean, a nomadic tribe, whose dwellings, temples and tombs were chiselled and bored out of rock face.

This city existed as early as 100 B.C. and was ran over by Roman and Muslim invaders before being abandoned completely. The main attraction (photo) called the treasury is tucked away in a confined space and only come on sight after navigating through a narrow and winding canyon. The view is awesome, something that we always see only on photos and books.

By the beach at Nuweiba Village

A much needed rest after the long journey from Luxor. This location is not as charming and busy as the famous Sharm El-Sheik to the south but has a direct ferry connection to Aqaba in Jordan. Located at the Northwestern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, this body of water does not seem as big as on the map. The Gulf of Aqaba and Gulf of Suez to the west form like two fingers sticking out from the Red Sea.

There are lots of new hotels and resorts being constructed. The water is gentle here, one can see the land of Saudi and Jordan across the water. We spent the night here and met some locals selling all sort of beautifully handcrafted necklaces and traditional jewelleries.

Crossing the Sinai

Definitely the lowlight of the trip was crossing the Sinai Peninsular from Cairo on the way to Jordan. After an 11-hours train ride from Luxor, we were transferred on to a bus ride which took us another 9 hours before reaching Nuweiba Village on the coast of Gulf of Aqaba.

The bus journey took us through the Suez Canal and passing thorough the deserted plain of historic Sinai. There's hardly anyone living here, Sinai was captured by Israel in 1973 war and was only handed back in 1982. There are still a lot of security check points along the way where security personnel repeatedly board the bus to check on passengers. This photo was taken midway in Sinai in our only stop!

Karnak Temple

This is located within Luxor town itself - a few minutes drive from the hotel. The complex is the most important place of worship in ancient Egypt and measures a total of 1.2 sq km in area.

The biggest temple is the Temple of Amon-Ra, reflecting ancient Egypt belief in the Solar devine. The entrance is a made up of a majestic avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. Inside the main hall are rows of decorated large pillars, 134 in total! There are a few obelisks or solid single pillars inside the temple. The obelisks are single cut granite piece up to 40 m tall and weigh up to 1000 tons.

Temple of Hatshepsut

This is one of the most famous structure associated with Egypt but for the wrong reason. It was the site of the 1997 terrorist attack where up to 60 people were killed. The after effect was drastic as Egypt's tourism industry collapsed totally and took years to recover.

The Temple is partly rock-cut and partly free-standing structure is one of the finest monument of ancient Egypt. Its very difficult to imagine that this monumental and beautiful structure was built thousands of years ago (1515 B.C.) for Queen Hatshepsut. This was the period of great Egyptian empire over entire known world.

Valley of the Kings

Next stop was Luxor. There are so many things to see here - the area often described as the world's largest open-air museum. Unfortunately the two days have been very hot so we could not stand too long under the sun.

The Valley of the Kings is a place of death - a final resting place for ancient Egyptian royalty. The tombs are cut tunnel-fashion into the cliffs that border the valley. Inside the simple rock-cut tombs consist of a single chamber. We went into two of the tombs - Ramses VII and Ramses IV. The photo shows the decorated burial chamber inside the tomb of Ramses IV. Many of the paintings however has deteriorated because of the humidity brought by countless visitors into the Tomb.

Longest Train Ride

It took us 13 hours by train to reach Aswan from Cairo covering a distance of just over 900km. Aswan is the southernmost city in Egypt and where the great Aswan dam is located. It is magically beautiful here.

The old Aswan dam was completed by the British in 1902. The High dam was later built with the help of Russians and completed in 1971. It doubles Egypt's power supply and increases cultivable land by 30%. It also created an artificial lake the size of Brunei.

Amongst the things to do here is going on a ride on felucca or traditional canvas-sailed boat. The river is at its most picturesque in Aswan as you see the Nile flows around palm studded islands and high desert sands in the background.

Alexandria in 332 B.C.

Cairo is very dusty and crowded. Its a city of some 15 millions. Not a place to stay even for a few days. The second day we went to Alexandria, a 3-hours drive to the North towards the coast of the Mideterranean. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C., the city is a much needed respite for Cairo inhabitants for fresh air and easier life.

This photo is of Fort Qaitbey built by Mamluk Sultan Qaitbey in 1480. Its a huge structure located at strategic location to defend Alexandria from enemies coming from the sea. The other great thing to see in Alexandria is the Momtazah Palace and Gardens built by one of the last Egyptian Khedive or Turkish King in the 1910's for a summer retreat from hot Cairo. Khedive started when Egypt was under the Ottoman Empire under the command of Muhammad Ali in 1800's. He declared himself ruler of Egypt, taking the title Khedive.

At the foot of the Pyramids

Just came back from 12 days of a whirlwind tour of Egypt and Jordan. First stop was the Pyramid complex at Giza - one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World.

The Pyramids are very big and very old. This extraordinary funerary complex is nearly 5,000 years old built by the Egyptian Pharoahs! The biggest one is made up of 2.5 millions stone blocks each weighing at least 2 tons. A layer of granite blocks used to provide the outer casing but these have been taken away leaving the stone blocks being slowly damaged by the desert wind. We didn't dare to go inside but most of the treasures are now kept in the Egyptian Museum - that was the itenary for the afternoon.

Cloggies

Something that you can’t resist to buy as a tourist, the Dutch clogs are available in many shops here. They are associated with the Netherlands as part of the touristic Holland image, where they are seen as a form of national dress. Because of this, Dutch people are sometimes called cloggies or clog-wearers.

In Dutch, clogs are known as klompen and traditional clogs were made out of wood. But nowadays they are hardly worn except probably for few oldies in some villagers.

Holy Smoke!

Walking along Amsterdam's Klaverstraat, we ended up at a canal which got rows of nicely decorated stalls on its bank selling souveniers and flower bulbs. Amongst the items on sale is this one shown in the photo. Its canabis seeds complete with instruction on how to plant it. I wonder what happen if you buy it and being caught by the custom back home?

Cannabis, hashish and marijuana are considered as soft drugs here in Netherlands. Here one could find many "Coffee shops" in Amsterdam selling soft drugs openly.

The main aims is to separate the markets from hard drugs so that soft drug users are less likely to come into contact with hard drugs. This policy also aims to take the soft drug market out of the hands of the criminals, thus reducing crime.

Visit to Delft Factory

There is nice small porcelain factory worth visiting in Delft. This one gives you a short tour in the factory.

First porcelains are made in casts where hot white clay specially imported from Britain and Germany is poured into shaped casts made of porous material. Within 30 minutes, a thin layer gets hardened against the cast as air in the clay escapes through the porous cast material. Excess clay is then poured out. The rest is left to further hardened for 3 more hours.

The next stage is putting them in a small electric kiln or oven for 32 hours. The finished porcelain products are white in colour and looked polished.

The human work then takes over. Motifs are hand drawn, these take up to 3 hours depending on the size and design intricacies. The ink used contains materials that turn the black ink into the famous Delft blue after heating the porcelain for the last time.

This factory is the only two authentic factory left that still labour through this painstaking process.

Shopping in a Souk

The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the old Roman city walls, is a thriving place for worship and shopping. There are about 15 mosques and in the Christian quarter there are 12 churches. This is in an area of less than 2 sq km!

People go to the old city also because of its famous souks. There are a number, the most famous is the Al-Hamidiyah.

This photo is taken from the entrance of Al-Hamidiyah souk also showing the old wall to the left. Souks are the commercial street or market in the Arab world. It is here where you can find jewellery, clothing, spices, wooden sculptures and other goods at a bargain.

Mesjid Ummayad

On the second day I was brought by my colleague who used to live in Damascus to the old city and the world famous Ummayad Mosque.

This is one of the world’s largest mosques. Walking in this mosque is quite an experience, the architecture is superb and uncomparable. Built by Khalifah Al-Walid back in 86 Hijrah, it took 10 years to built. The reign of the said Khalifah is considered as the height of Islamic power.

Inside the mosque is a shrine which is said to contain the relics of Nabi Yahya honoured also as prophet (John) by Christians. The previous Pope, John Paul II visited the mosque back in 2001 to visit the relics. It was the first time a pope ever paid a visit to a mosque.

Damascus Trip

The trip has been cancelled twice but I am finally off to Damascus in Syria for work. It is a city of 5 million and expanding with 1 million Iraqis sheltering from the chaos in their home country.

Syria has always been protrayed being the bad guys in Western media because of the totalitarian rule under its former president for 30 years and its alleged link to militant groups, Hezbollah and the killing of Rafik Hariri. But the people here are quite nice and the city is safe.

It is full of history – an understatement when you realised that it is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It was part of the Roman Empire before been captured by the great Khalifah Umar. The city became the capital of the Umayyad Empire - the greatest Islamic empire of all time expanding from Spain to India.

International Day

The great thing about international school and being part of the cultural mixing pot is an opportunity to learn from others. This year's international day was a success. Under the banner of our Brunei national flag, exotic local food was on display. There was kelupis, wajid and pulut pangang to start with (flown all the way from Brunei). Then the usual takeaways in a small box (so typical of our culture!). Books, photos and what have you that the ladies could find in the house was on display.

To cap it, our Chieftain (Pengiran) managed to produced a unique powerpoint with video insert showing our marshall art - silat. Other countries took a more concerted effort by being a bit more extravangant in their stage show. Well our students in the school is only made up of 3 families here.

Subtle Message

Its two years in a row the team has won something in the annual Rafting Klassik. First was for the most entertaining team, later for the best costume. Its a perfect fusion of team building, exhilarating fun and trying to express something in an inconspicuous way.

Initially dubbed the EEZ bandit slayer, the team apparently became desperate to later called themselves the Pirates of the EEZ. The well-laden raft is probably no match for the big guns out in the rich water out there. But in the real world the team is slowly but surely pacing itself for a final glory.

Town Hall in Spui

Between The Hague Central Station and the Centrum is this large white building (actually two buildings) which houses the civil servants of The Hague.

The amazing thing about the building is it got a huge and transparent atrium laid down between the two buildings. Above the two buildings are connected by an array of walkways. It is another good example of modern and beautiful architecture which if you think about it – is it worth spending money just for that?

Next to the Town Hall is the square called Spuiplein which has a unique water fountain - the water sprays directly from the paving bricks giving a bit of fun for people crossing the square.

Turkish Mosque in China Town

This mosque along the main China Town street is located right at the heart of the Hague. It is just a few minutes walk from Spuistraat the main shopping alley in the Hague. Going along with the Turkish traditions are two distinct minarets and elegant floor carpets for prayer.

Apparently there are more mosques in Holland than in Brunei. With a Muslim population of 1 million or so, literally there are more muslims here than in UK. In the Hague, the various ethnic groups are catered by multitude of Dutch, Turks, Moroccan and Indonesia mosques. The gathering for Indonesian, Malaysian and Bruneian is the Al-Hikmah mosque. The Friday sermon is conducted in Bahasa Indonesia.

Formula One starts......

The new season starts at Melbourne this morning (4 am Hollands' time). It promises to be a more competitive year with Schumie finally bowing out. As usual the season starts with unfamiliar car paint and pre-season expectations. There are also new drivers, new logos, new tyre rules and no more tobacco advertisement.

The most talked about driver this time is Lewis Hamilton - the Tiger Wood of F1. Like Tiger, he is not white and got strong support from his dad from very young age. He started go-karting at the age of 3 and has been kart and racing champions at every level. Today on his debut in F1, he got a podium spot! This photo was from Sepang last year when Fiz and Ish were there as well.

Spring is coming…

One of the first flowers to bloom in spring is the so called "Dutch crocus". Although it is still not spring yet but the daylight is getting longer with sunset now at around 7pm. In two weeks time the clock will be reversed by an hour prolonging the day light by an additonal hour into the evening.

Spring starts when the average day temperature rises permanently above 5 degC to even high temperatures in the afternoon. Today maximum temperature was 14 degC and you start to realize that its coming to good period weather when lots of people starts to go outside.

The prolonged light is good for the beginning of the so-called growth period for the early spring plants such as crocus and willows. The time of new live goes on through spring with colourful tulips start being prominent on the background everywhere you go in Holland

Shoarma Kebab

A trip to the Beverwijk Bazaar is not complete without going for a hefty lunch at one of many kebab restaurants. Walking past any of these restaurants, you will really get hassled and tempted to sit by the owners who offer free tea and extra portions.

Food in each restaurant are not too far different. But its the way they decorate and shape the place and how the owner treats you. We have our own favourite which we frequented all the time. The owner is an Egyptian and the place is run by his family.

Beverwijk Bazaar

Walking in this place is feel like being not anywhere in Holland. The place is located close to the coast of Holland just North of Amsterdam and takes about 30-40 minutes to reach from home.

Open only during weekend Beverwijk is apparently the largest covered market in Europe started from a flower auction place 25 years ago.

Most of the stores are mainly run by old and new generations of migrants from Morocco, Turkey, Afghanistan as well as the Dutch natives - a real cultural mix.

This is one huge place and take time to walk through all the stall spread out in many large halls, with its own unique culture, goods and atmosphere.

The main ones are the Black Market, the Oriental Market, the Flea Market, the Computer Market and the Grand Bazaar. It is said there are some 2,500 stalls or shop units selling clothes, shoes, furniture, antiques, books, computers, household items etc.

The whole complex is currently being modernize, old halls demolished for new ones. The place can be quite cold as we found out yesterday being close to the sea - its not out of winter yet!.

Chicken Tikka Masala

While in America there are a Chinese restaurant on every corner, in England it's an Indian restaurant. Recent count was something like over 8,000 Indian restaurants in Britain.

In The Hague, you can find several Indian restaurants but this one is run by an Indian and a Pakistani muslim. The place is frequented by staff from the Saudi and Malaysia embassies as well as the local Imams in the area.

Taking about Indian food, Britain's most popular national dish which is also our kid's favourite is chicken tikka masala or chicken tikka in a tomato gravy. It is eaten with rice or scoop with naan. The vegetable dish we like is aloo gobi, a combination of potato and cauliflaower with spices.

Visiting a Medieval Courtyard

Its not just about shopping. One could experience the rich European history as well which always give me the great suprise how advanced the society and political system were hundreds of years ago here.

Compare that to back home, we can only be proud of out Kampung Ayer (although a bit neglected now) and a hundred year of Bandar history. May be European history should be made an additional subject rather than just the local history.

This enclosed courtyard is again in Buitenhof where you will find yourself surrounded by architecture from the 13th up to the 19th century, with the normal crowd sitting around enjoying the sun.

Shopping in De Passage

Smacked in the middle of the Hague shopping area is a glass-roofed shopping mall, unique to the Netherlands, called De Passage.

Its history goes back to 1882, more than 115 years to make it Holland's oldest shopping centre.

The mall is home to many specialist shops. It also sit next to Novotel Hotel, Pathe cinema and the other main shopping alley in the Hague -Spusitraat. In all it has 3 entrances linking to the other well known part of the Centre of the Hague.

Go Karting

Its the start of another weekend. This time we went to a place on the outskirts of The Hague called de Uithof which got ice skating, indoor skiing, climbing and go-karting. We went go-karting of course, 5 chaps in all.

It was thrilling but also gave severe headache especially as we were pitted with some good drivers who seem to be having their best fun pushing and banging us aside during the race.

I found out there are two basics to fast go-karting. You can scream down a straight at top speed but the art is in the cornering in being able to pull the kart around it at its maximum speed. The other one is overtaking, the key to this one is simply confidence.