Today I had to break my normal routine. After cycling for 10 months today was the first time I took the public transport. The reason was I got an invite for lunch. Today there was a Bruneian delegation in town. The lunch was for the delegation.But looking outside the office, I saw our flag proudly standing there. This is the first time I see our national flag flying on Dutch soil.
The current recession has cost the oil producing countries 2.5 trillions dollars. That's more or less equivalent to 40% of the stock market value wiped out. Staggering.
One of the great things that the kids like about the schooling here is the food technology. They really enjoy it and even our 11 years boy is proud of what he can cook. They are also quite keen to hone their skill (i.e. make a mess) at home. But for the parents it is a real headache to get all those ingredients from the supermarket to prepare for the cooking at school. The other thing that they do a lot here is sports. Our youngest now enjoys rugby.
Saw this one - they are professional bloggers - they are the ones filling us with most of the events and news from back home. Some of them even have more than half a million hits! Then there is another group - photo bloggers - posting lots of fantastic shots.
It's GCSE mock exam time. I always refer it to 'O' level but that is not correct anymore. I took the 'O' level back in 1981, then was called the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (Ordinary Level). But apparently, except for Singapore, the GCE O-Levels have been phased out in favour of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) starting in 1988. 
Where to find the best cupcakes in London? - that's a really hot contention amongst cupcakes lovers. The ones in Selfridges seem to be a favourite amongst our countrymen. Now with the English Pounds sliding against the Euros and other currencies, stuff in UK are relatively cheaper than in Europe. Sometimes as much as half price.
With the cold weather during the last few weeks, frozen lakes and canals have been crowded with skaters. It was said about a million pairs of skates were sold during the period. With it saw an increase in number of hospital cases for broken arms, bruises and so on. In the office, at least two of our colleagues were strapped up for bruises suffered from fall during skating. 
We always hear that word mentioned every now and then, saying that we must aim to become a person who is "beriman dan beramal soleh". The first is quite clear - faith. The second one is not so. What is it exactly? It's probably one of the most used word but not many people really understand what it means.
We reached home at 10.30 pm last night. It was a short and worthwhile trip. Love to do it again. This must have been our 7th trip to London since we have been here. Before heading home we had a hearty meal at Bonda Cafe again. Apparently the Mawar restaurant nearby is back on business again. And we were also recommended to try another Malaysian outlet at Bayswater. May be next time. The nice thing with Bonda Cafe is that it has a small prayer room upstairs (in the Mara building). Which is good and becoming a trend nowadays as Muslim restaurant owners across Europe are more conscious to provide such thing. 
We left London at 2.30 pm but got stuck in a huge traffic jam near Hyde Park because of the Gaza protest. So a bit of improverisation, taking a diferent route via Kensington and southwards before cutting back Eastwards to our normal route. The protests on Gaza across Europe are becoming louder and louder nowadays. The obvious missing persons in actions are Mr Blair and Mr Barrack. The former, who was appointed as UN special envoy to the MiddleEast, is not to be seen at all. The later is amazingly muted. 
Our youngest is on a new obsession. He is into Top Gear territory - loving Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May to bits. He just loves to watch the antics of these three wierdos - testing and speeding expensive and fancy cars like cheap toys, smashing a manufacturer's reputation infront of millions of viewers, crashing caravans and competing with the Stig. The Stig is Top Gears tamed racing driver nobody really knows who he is. One thing our youngest would really wish to do is attend a live Top Gear show - but apparently there's a 3-year waiting list for that! So for time being a few books will keep him busy.
With our cousin at Titchbourne Row had long gone home for good last month, we were wondering where would be the best place to stay whilst in London which has easy access, got car park facility, nice neighbourhood and well connected for going anywhere. We opted for this Holiday Inn Express hotel in Acton near to Shepperds Bush. The North Acton tube Station is just next to the hotel which is on the Central Line. Although driving our car is by far more convenient, taking about 15 minutes to reach Paddington. The room only costs 50 pounds inclusive of breakfast. The new shopping mall, Westfield Shopping Centre, said to be the largest now in Europe, is less th
an 10 minutes drive. The shopping centre is really huge. The post Christmas sale is still on till end of January, so this is the best time to go.
It was a spontaneous idea on Friday night - why don't we go for an overnight to London during the weekend.
We had a stopover at Maidstone Service station at around 8 am UK time, just as it was sunrising, to see our car really blackened by thick grime of salt and dirts during the drive. It was quite cold as well, up to minus 12 Deg. C in Belgium with flurry of snow now and then. At 9 am we were already at Paddington, just in time for breakfast at Bonda Cafe. Surprisingly London was also cold, at minus 3 Deg. C.
After Schipol we found ourselves nothing much to do the rest of the morning. So after loitering at Starbuck at the airport we set off to the market. It has been a while since we saw Rambutan. These ones cost 3.50 Euros per kilos! Not sure how much they cost back home now. We were curious to know where did they come from. The stall owner showed us the packing box - of all places the rambutan came from Vietnam in boxes of 2 kilos. And they tasted quite sweet as well.
Today was the last day of Noruen here after a 3 weeks stay. The kids went on the train to Schipol while we followed soon in our car. As we were early, there wasn't that normal long line to the check-in counters. The holiday season is also over and probably everone has already returned home by now. There's also a big difference between the different airlines, some counters are so inefficient that it takes a while to check-in passenger. The Singapore Airlines counters simply worked like clockwork. 
The cold weather is still around. In fact it will drop to -16 Deg. C at night in two days time. That will be really cold. Most of the canals and lakes are already fully frozen with many skaters relishing the situation.
Madurodam is well known to whoever are aware of what Holland or The Netherlands got to offer for tourists. In fact a visit to this place, which contains miniature models at 1:25 scale, will show you every single important buildings, structures, countrysides and places that could be found in this country. So it is a worthwhile place to visit. The details put into every single items are incredibly good and sometimes you really feel like a giant when standing overlooking all these models.
Few places were only opened today. Through the web we found out our go-karting place is opened. So we brought the kids there. Not that many people were there. In fact the kids got the track for themselves. With the clear track, Faris managed to break his long standing lap record.It's just a couple of days before Noruen leaves for Brunei. The kids still got until next Tuesday of thei
r term break. Soon they will be in a different gear as they enter the critical part of the acedamic year where tests and exams will be set. As tuitions or extra classes are not a norm here compare to back home, we as parents will endeavour and put our energy to guide them in their study and progress.
It's the morning after the new year celebration. There's rubbish everywhere. The folks on our street are normally quite good and we all together would clean our street. This is not true everywhere especially those living in apartments where the street is shared by everyone. Last night, people in the neighbourhood gone crazy. They piled up stuff in the middle of the road and made a big fire. Police soon came but only watched it just to prevent the crowd from putting more stuff into it. As soon as the police left, the crowd, mostly youths started a new fire again. Not sure who will clean that mess this morning.
The fireworks this year were more powerful, although a lot less fascinating if you have seen one too many. Car alarm got set off everynow and then by the big bang. Police and fire services were seen circulating around the area just in case. Elsewhere in the Hague about 90 cars were burned as reported this morning.
The kids went on a bicycle ride at midnight just to see what's going on in the neighbourhood. Basically everyone were on the street. After two hours in the cold outside, it was time to move inside the house. Thats gone another year. A year full of happenings in the world. A year of volatile oil price and global recession. A year of peace, terror and war again. Especially the latest one in Gaza, an endless circle of tragedy, revenge and hatred. My fear is that the spoilt kid of Uncle Sam can do anything it likes now while the 'shoe-thrown' person is moving out and a new president move into the Oval office on 17th January to have a fresh start in the Middleast.
It was also a year of many great sporting events. A year of full of progress in many countries and not so in others. For us it has been an interesting year. The kids are all now together in senior schools. We managed to do our travel to few places. We managed to do our bits to save the environment by cycling to school or work. We managed to foster new friendships. All in all was a busy year.
Five hours to go to midnight. It's already like war outside with people starting to play fireworks. Our neighbourhood seems to have lots of teenagers who couldn't wait for the midnight. But come midnight it will be crazy. Missus got our small stock today from the shop.
It's unusual to head for work during these festive days of the year. But that's exactly what I did. And with the temparature diving down last night and canals started to get frozen, cycling in this weather is obviously total madness. But that's exactly why I did, breezing through the -6 Deg. C weather outside in the early morning. In fact the weather stayed almost like that the rest of the day. We just hoped for a few more days of freezing weather to see people start to skate on the frozen canals. And that would be a great sight to see.
Yesterday we left Aachen. First stop was to the nearby 'Three-Country Point' where Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium meet. Our friendly Tom Tom or GPS navigator first brought us from the German sector but ended up in someones gate. We then re-programmed Tom Tom, and this time brought us into The Netherlands before going round into Belgium to bring us yet again to another dead-end. We then gave up. It's a shame not able to go to visit this place. A lesson for us, don't leave home without a map. With all the modern trappings we started to rely too much on machines and gadgets. In the past, a map is all you need, and in my profession that is my speciality anyway.
Aachen is right by the German's border with Belgium and The Netherlands. There's not much to see here except that we are heading the next day across the border to visit a couple of factory outlets!
The same with petrol. It's about 10% cheaper here in Germany compare to Holland, so it's wise to fill up before heading back to Holland. The fuel price is definitely less of a burden now, hovering around 1.05 Euros per litre compared to 1.66 Euros at its height during September.
We left Winterberg in late afternoon after a light snack. On the way we saw this frozen water wheel - an amazing sight with the salactities and salagmites forming from top and bottom. The temperature here are always subzero and even below minus 10 Deg. C at night, so water gets easily frozen except the one flowing in the stream.
Nowadays German's autobahns are a lot more modern and smoother to drive. It is probably the only country in the world that does not have speed limit on some of its motorways. We restraint ourselves with the speed with our rental car. Even cruising at 120km/hr, we were by far amongst the slowest on the road. Most people were crusing at much higher speed. No wonder the Germans are great car manufacturers, buying a beamer or a merc is only worthwhile if you can drive like those in these autobahns.
The place was quite crowded. There were traffic jams most of the way, parking lots were full and cars could only be parked on the side of the roads. It's the long break between Christmas and New Year and everyone must have been heading this way. The queue to the ski lift was also quite long. 
This year the slope was quite steep and the slide was considerably faster and bumpier. It was too much of an exhiliration. We all tumbled down half way the slope. We only dared once! So we ended up doing the rest of the slides from half the slope from there on.
This year we went to the same place like last year. It took just over two hours from our hotel in Cologne to reach the place. For the most part, the drive was through the forested mountains in this part of Germany. The last hour of the drive was using small roads and steeper climbs. Everybody had to drive carefully for this leg of the journey as the roads could be slippery if not properly gritted. When we reached there the temperature was quite cold at -6 Deg. C. And the place was not disappointing as there were plently of snow.
Last year when we drove here, it was quite foggy and was difficult to find the place. This time around we have a clear sky and probably too sunny. We went to the same spot like last year, although literally there are up to a hundred of such ski parks to choose from.
Last night we stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Troisdorf somewhere between Cologne and Bonn. The Holiday inn Express has become our favourite hotel chain when travelling in Germany. Relatively cheap and easily accessible, it caters for traveller who wants a quick getaway to the motorway.
The aternatives are Mercure and Ibis, but these more established chains have smaller rooms and are mostly a bit run-down.
One thing that could easily be found in Germany are the Lego speciality shops. The one in Cologne is quite big with a lot of specific items not on sale in Holland could be found easily here. Interestingly the buyers are not just children but grown up men who have a liking for Lego collections.
It's the start of our short break to Germany. We are heading to the ski slopes. On the way we decided this time to stop over in Cologne. Last year we did the stop-over in Dusseldorf. Cologne is also sometimes written as Koln. It's a 3 hours drive from home. Cologne's main landmark is the main cathedral which is located at the heart of the city. It can be seen from many miles away and can be used as a reference point when you want to head to the city. This is only one of the few buildings left standing during the World War II when the Allied Forces sent over a thousand fighter bombers to 'carpet bomb' the city which nearly wiped out the whole city.
The city has since moved on. It is now the fourth largest city in Germany. Although it could also claimed to be one of the oldest, founded by the Romans two thousands years ago. It is not surprising that the city has probably got the most number of museums (30!) as there are many Roman relics to be found. Apart from that the city is located on the bank of River Rhine and that makes the city quite special and beautiful.
It's Friday and during the Friday mass prayer we met Ustaz who just came back from Haj. He arrived last Sunday and like every year, he brought as many pilgrims as he could. The cost of the package is comparable to what we pay back home, about 4 to 5 thousands Euros each, all inclusive. Normally Haj organisers in Holland and Germany make use of a well known European Turkish agent and this seems to be less of an issue as they are well organised and has good standing with the Saudi Haj organiser.
Faris wanted to go the the Napolean Museum, but we didn't have time. The last time we went to the De Louvre, that took us a good 4 hours. We actually only had 2 full days to spend. There was also a lot of catching up to do in Paris with our host there.
The country itself is trying its hard to be secular, banning all form of religious symbols and practice from school and government offices amongst others. So it's not surprising to see the Christmas atmosphere and decorations are quite subdued compare to other cities particularly in Germany and UK. Nonetheless, the decoration lightings along the Champs-Élysées, claimed to be 'the most beautiful avenue in the world', are quite impressive. A walk down the avenue, stopping by at its cafes or peeking around inside the luxury speciality shops, is a great way to spend the evening in this city.
Whilst in Paris, we brought our neice to Disney. This time around we let the kids on their own. Christmas eve was a quieter day to go. Last year we went on Christmas day, and gosh that was really crowded. This time around, we didn't have to wait long in the queue. On the way back it took us sometimes to search for our car. Its just a vast parking lot and we thought we remember the parking lot. In the end after spreading ourselves we managed to find it. On the way back to Paris, which was only 40 minutes drive from Disney, the road leading out of Paris was jam-packed for miles and miles. It's the Christmas eve and everybody were going home. Luckily we were heading to the opposite direction.
There have been too many incidents of pick pockets in Paris. So here we are trying to educate those who are planning to go to Paris. Pick pockets are quite rampant there, be it at the metro, at tourist attractions or at Disney. The victims are not just tourists but also Parisian themselves. The criminals may guise themselves smartly and minggle around in the crowd with their quick hands always on the prey. Some may just drop coins in front of you which prompted you to help the poor guy not knowing his partner is helping himself from the back. Some may just drop in front of you, touching your leg or shoe, which would mommentarily shock you while his accomplish is working on your wallet or handbag. Others may guise as a Muslim woman wearing head scarf while conducting their attics but actually are gypsies . So be warned. We have heard quite a lot of incidents affecting many tourists and our countrymen.
Just back from Paris. Drove all the way from Paris to Holland today, a distance of 475 km in 4.5 hours, including a short rest stop-over at the border between Belgium and Holland. The drive was quite good, being Christmas today the roads were very quiet. And so we managed to drive on cruise control most of the way.
, a total of 284 steps in all. But at the top it was quiet a nice scenary to see as most of main streets were decorated with Christmas lightings. On one side one could see the Le Defence, the futuristic part of Paris at a distance. On the other side one could see the Ferris Wheel near the Museum De Louvre. With the sunset the temperature dropped very quickly and was quite unbearable to hang around too long. 
Fiz gave Noruen a tour of Amsterdam yesterday. They took a train and amongst the many exotic things that Amsterdam has to offer is this King Kong on the loose at Dam Square. Today I dropped them together with Zim at Alexandrium Shopping Centre just outside Rotterdam City Centre, a place I have never known before but the girls seemed to know places like this better. There is apparently a newly open Primark store there. This well-known UK chain is either you like it or loath it. For the kids, they really love it as prices are great.
In the news this morning was this initiative to create a chain of Sharia compliant hotels by Al Mulla Group based in Dubai. In its website it says all its properties operating under its three brands will respect and abide by the principles of Sharia and will not sell alcohol and only serve Halal prepared food, as interpreted by the Sharia law and the Sharia supervisory board. There's a large market to be captured. It says "according to the World Tourism Organization, Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest outbound travel markets in terms of average spend with tourists from the Kingdom spending US$ 6.7 billion annually on overseas travel. The UAE travellers are close behind at more than US$ 4.9 million, an average of US$ 1,700 per trip, which is US$ 500 higher than the European average".
