PAAAAATRRRIICCCKK!

So i was in Le Mans a couple of weeks ago. Coincidentally, the visit there was the weekend that the 24 heures du mans was held.

We had bought tickets to view the race over Saturday and Sunday. Having been to the F1 in Singapore previously, i pretty much expected it to be the same but without the names that we so often hear in the news and papers.

To my surprise, when we reach Le Mans, our host, informed us that Patrick Dempsey aka Dr. McDream of the hit TV show, Grey's Anatomy and movies like Enchanted was in Le Mans and racing.

How cool was that?

On friday evening, in the centre of Le Mans, there's be a parade, Parade des Pilotes where all the super cars and drivers of the race come out for some fun.

Guess who i was keeping my eye out for? Patrick Dempsey of course. But before he came along, there was a whole lot to see..

The Pagani Zonda PS

Citroën GT

Spyker C8 Laviolette

Koenigsegg CCX

Wiesmann MF5

Mercedes-Mclaren SLR Roadster 722

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione

How cool was that? These were the cars that i only get to see on Top Gear! Which reminds me.. have you heard? Apparently the Stig have been revealed to be no other than Schmi!!

And we saw the Trophy for the Race

And the one whom i was waiting for... PATRICK DEMPSEY!!!

What happened was he went pass.. and i was like.. hhrrmmp.. couldn't get a nice picture, and in my excitement...i SCREAMED, "PAAAAAATTRRRRRIIICCCCKKKK!!!" To everyone's surprise at my volume.. and at Patrick, he turned and wave at me!!

That was one of the highlights of my trip! Besides eating all the french food and Parc Asterix.

So we went to the races

... that's Patrick's car. no. 81 racing past

Being a 24hr race, we simply had to go and check out the racing at night...

It was 3 am when we watch the races. By then, the 2 Peugeots had taken the lead.. and Audi was 3rd.

Oh.. these guys came in 2nd.

Sébastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny & Stéphane Sarrazin


And the drivers of the wining no. 9 Peugeot.

Marc Gene, David Brabham & Alexander Wurz

BLueberry Girl...

I would want to be the Blueberry girl and i got the chance to be one..

Tis blueberry season here and the woods have bushes that are filled with blueberries ready for plucking.

See all of them?

I spent 1.5hours being bitten by mossies to pick the berries.. and there's so many more to be picked.

i figured i got maybe 1 kilo worth of blueberries..

And after getting a recipe for blueberry crumble from here.. i attempted my first attempt at pie making!

I think it was a very good attempt and it is sososososos LEKKER!!!

I love it.. and want to go and pick more berries tomorrow!

BTW, i saw Patrick Dempsey in Le Mans... and got him to wave at me! More updates in a while!!

Went to Ghent

Ghent is such a lovely town. From 1000 - 1550, it was one of the most important towns in Europe. Larger than London and only second to Paris. So much history and so beautiful...

It was a lovely day and the colours was amazing... we had a great day there.

St. Bavo's Cathedral

Oldest hotel in Ghent

The Graslei is one of the most scenic places in Ghent's old city centre.

Loved the fort... however, as it is under restoration, the view of it is not very photogenic. Pity!

At the Citadelpark




Belgium Beer!!! YUM!




And Belgium Frites! I need Belgium mussels and chocolates!

Vermeer and museum

Parc Astérix .. which i will be there in a couple of weeks time.. and

Hergé Museum

René Magritte Museum

Went to Delft over the weekend and visited Johannes Vermeer Centre... it was really nice to learn something about the painter... and i learnt that the painting of the girl with the pearl earring... her eyes follow you no matter where you are standing, earning the painting the nickname, "Mona Lisa of the North"



I love his 'Little Street"

We had perfect weather and the light was amazing. Hence, you can only imagine the light the painter himself saw when he painted.

This is so funny...

3rd happiest place in the world

isn't it great that Netherlands is the 3rd happiest country in the world?

Just some of the things that make me happy

Orange and more orange

So many things happened in the last week. First was the celebration of Queen's Day in Amsterdam, which turned out to be shocking due to the car crash and reportedly attempted attack on the Royal Family. All the parties and concerts in Netherlands were cancelled, except for Amsterdam. Due to the high volume of people in the city, cancelling it there would have been a terrible idea as the public transport would not have been able to cope and this poses a security issue too. So it carried on. We didn't realise the severity of the whole incident after we came home.

But it was an experience to be in Amsterdam for Koninginnedag. The parties on the boats, complete with DJs who are completeing to be the best party boat, the sheer number of people on the streets and houses that open up their WC to earn $$. It was a sight to behold in a sea of orange!

Then we went to makro and did a massive shopping trip as we were going to throw a BBQ for his parents. But his mother had an attack of giddiness due to her being unable to equalise.. so that was off and we invited some friends over for BBQ instead. it was a good BBQ, enjoyed by everyone with great food, marinated by your truly, with tiger prawns, chicken kerbarbs, anchovy pasta, egg and potatoe salad, beef and skippy! Loved skippy..

And yesterday was Remembrance Day. I didn't know about it.. i forgot H told me about it last week when the trailer for Diary of Anne Frank movie was on, and i was at the tennis courts having a round of tennis. A couple of minutes before 8, my friend told me that we had to stop playing at 8pm. I was like huh? And she explained. 2 minutes of silence to remember the dead. And i did wonder if people will stop mid game to observe the silence. And yes they did. Most of them did, except for 2 courts. Apparently it happened in the gym where H was at too. He noticed that suddenly, the music in the gym was switched off. And when he looked around.. everyone was standing and observing the silence. It is something quite profound.

So after tennis, we just watched Diary of Anne Frank. It was surprising to find out that H, being Dutch, has never read her dairy, while it is a staple in our secondary school literature class. Hrrrmmpp.. thought that all children, especially the dutch or the germans, would have read it. And it was such a coincidence that i was at Anne Frank's Huis in Amsterdam just last week.



And i got the funkiest thing.. a storm umbrella, free from ING after i opened a bank account. I realised the severity of the North Wind after my umbrella was blown inside out. And this Senz umbrella, designed by students in Netherlands, is a hit. Said to have a patented frame withstands 70 MPH gales! (100 km/h). Mine is in orange, but then!

Too cool!

Tulip fields...

Finally got to go and see some tulip fields today. We are all scheduled to go to keukenhof next week.. but to be honest, with the weather that we are having, i was a bit afraid that the tulips would have been gone by then. So H was really nice to drive over 300km (return trip) to the North of Netherlands so that we could take some pictures. It was such a pity that after 1 week of beautiful weather, it rained today... oh.. and end up, i didn't feel that great in the car. Sneezing and teary eyes. H said that it was due to the pollen in the air. I become ok after i came home though. I highly think that H has to clean his car!! hahaha

We have got Koninginnedag to look forward to in Amsterdam this mid-week and we are going to be on a boat in the canal! Lots of pictures then!!

Advice for my future daughter

i would so get this book.. affirmations and advice for her!

Smelly..

Today, he smells totally like a wet sheepdog.

In a bad way..

POUUII!

Dutch bikes...

Are the in-thing to have.. they are the coolest!

hahaha

See here!

I love my piet the fiets!

Celebrating Easter

Easter weekend was spent with H's family. imagine CNY, but ang moh style. Whole lot of relatives and feasting. Glad to have the opportunity to meet with the extended family and the weather was perfect.

Easter egg hunting, horse rides, farm visit, skipping and trampoline jumps. How cool is that huh?

Spring is really pretty here... everyday i see more and more flowers and they are breathtaking..

And tis the season for white asparagus... i love them! They are not called white gold for nothing. We cycle on my new bike, piet the fiet to the farm buy fresh ones.. super lekker.

Serve them cooked with butter, ham and egg with some potatoes and that's dinner.

Spaking of which, i have to introduce my very 'traditional dutch' bike, Piet!

And we found a cat who stalks us.. he's the funniest thing ever.

Once my printer is here, it's going to make a print and give it to the owner! :P

It's spring..

And it's really pretty here. Oh, yes, my lack of updates was due to me moving across continents from Singapore to Netherlands.

In the beginning, there was a lot of emotions that i was going through, from being excited to sad, scared and nervous. There were so many nights that i couldn't sleep. First from not being able to settle my things, not enough money for my insurance premiums, not being able to sell my car... to well, selling my car at too low a price.. etc etc.

but everything's behind now.. so i am settling in well over here. I couldn't have come at a better season. The weather's beautiful, flowers are blooming.. and the paperwork took less time than i expected. So officially, i'm a resident of the Royal Kingdom of Netherlands!

So while waiting for my dutch lessons to start, i've busy taking pictures, cooking, shopping, wandering around.. pretty fun to be honest. So many things to do that i don't even have time to update my blog.

hahaha...

Make a wish

Last night, while walking the dog, i saw a shooting star.. really! Here! I haven't seen one since my last trip to tasmania where i stood out there in the cold, freezing my ass off just to look at the beautiful twinkling stars.

Especially with what i'm undertaking, and the move that i will make next week... i made a wish.

And i'm happy and at peace.

Diving again

Cool picture taken by a fellow diver at Tioman.

BTW, i don't fancy the day when this fire extinguisher is needed.