The Efteling

Sun was the last day that this amusement park is open for the year... and since I've left the kids & Tini all of Sat on their own,I promised to spend the whole of Sun at the theme park.

You can also visit this website: http://www.efteling.nl/home.aspx?LanguageId=2

Efteling from outside... and at the entrance

The castle from here... and inside the area....

Entrance to Fata Morgana... gelap so lepas ni Haikal & Meen tak suka tempat gelap. Both of them in the boat ride

Air pancut...

Ada jugak dangerous rides tapi skip le.... nice pokok in the background, actually.

I will need to work on more photo uploads....

The Dijk...

On Sat... terpaksa "bohong sunat" kat the kids and said that I had to work sebab my team-mates from NL (Wim & Wouter) wanted to take me to the Dijk - the famous dam and flooding control "machines" that was the result of the great flooding in the 50's.

Wouter and girlfriend Alina fetched me at the apartment around 11am... and then drove all of us to Wim's place (about 1 hour drive). From there, Wim (and wife Joyce) drove all of us in his Volvo V70.... it's just over 1-hour drive from Wim's so U can imagine how far the place is.

I couldnt take the kids coz there is just no room for them... and they dont have a baby car seat... which is required in NL for kids under 4.

On the way, we first had pancakes!!! A delicious one that I've been wanting to go for... I have captured my "Flemish" pancake in a photo...

Then, we went by the sea and had some photo shoots ... (cewah, macam celebrity pulak) but afterwards left for the real one! It's a huge place... just have to look at it from the photos... Wim has a Nikon D80, I think, and he's really a professional photographer...

I wil upload the photos in the near future...

Sat at Leiden (again....) - reloaded

Photobucket Album

Last night

Semalam, balik dari kerja, Shasmeen dah tidur (and that was only around 6pm) - sekarang maghrib masuk dalam 6:40pm.... Tini kata budak2 tak tidur seharian & Haikal pun, mata dah stim je...

But then, Meen bangun balik dlm kul 6:50.... takde orang kat sebelah dia so dia bangun sendiri & merangkak ke living room...

Haikal pulak, "pengsan" dalam 7:10pm - lepas maghrib sebelum sempat kita mandi & soalt maghrib pun lagi... tapi pagi ni, dia dah segar bugar around 6am!

So, dah lepas minum susu... and dah "poo poo"... dah siap mandi seme before 7am, here he is playing with his Thomas.

Ada jugak ambik gambar Meen lepas mandi & the two of them on "movies" tapi gelap sket so it wont be nice to display.. nanti la ambik semula

Lazy Sunday at The Hague

Sunday was not a really "productive" day as i wasn't feeling too good... First I wanted to take them out to Enkhuizen - supposed to be a fishing village up north (about 1-2 hours on train).... but decided to just go to the Centrum area in The Hague - mainly to satisfy Haikal's request to get on the bus & "thomas"

You'll also see that there isn't many photos taken... tu yang ambik gambar Meen makan apple (on the video)...

Here are just a few shots

Ada orang bagi burung2 ni makan... so banyak le... and Haikal & me. Baju merah ni beli kat Sat market in Leiden semalam - cantik tak?


Haikal & "Thomas merah".... and 3 of them kat "The Sting"


This building looks old but nice....

We spent just about 1 hour kat sini (nak jimat tram ticket - free within the hour) so quickly went to the Supermarket (antara Giant-equivalent kat sini ialah Albert Heijn yang senang dapat halal meat)... and then balik apartment.

Petang tu, seme "pengsan" sebab baru baik demam pun... and then tu yang ambik gambar Meen makan apple... with Haikal's background voice....

Meen at apple-eating

Makin lama kat sini..... makin kenal ramai orang

hmmmm.. quite interesting sebab the longer I stay here, the more people I know or remember from past dealings..

Kalau ikut Malaysian (tapi ramai gak le yang tengah balik Malaysia sebab Raya)...
1) Iskandar.... used to be Juraidi's housemate, and geng2 main bola dengan Fadel....
- apparently dia & wife (ada anak bujang sorang - 5 bulan) tengah further studies kat Rotterdam.
- kalau sempat, lepas dia balik dari Malaysia nanti, nak jugak jumpa wife dia.

2) Azlan Zainal Abidin... dulu satu opis kat Cyberjaya....
- sekarang ni dia Biz Process Analyst for e-banking kat Rijswijk
- tapi sampai hujung tahun je

3) Deng (and Ben) - dulu Process Architects for PM & CPL respectively
- even had lunch with Deng yesterday. He hasnt changed THAT much
- Ben pun may want to come and have lunch some time later.
- They are now based in Rijswijk

4) Retnowati (Ejay) - rupanya dulu pernah diving together.
- she's based in Gas & Power (GP) here in the Hague...
- still single (and looking!! hee hee hee)

5) Yasmin (and her hubby Farid Ismail)
- I remember her from somewhere tapi rupanya Farid tu kenal Fadel (and me!) masa kat EON in 1999.
- jumpa lah jugak masa Raya kat ebmassy hari tu

6) Hari ni jumpa Nik Nazifah - sister to my neighbour, Nik Najihah...
- hari tu memang dia ada cakap, tapi baru hari ni jumpa

Not to mention some other Shell people that I've contacted before I came here... Ansari, Rashidah, Nina.. etc
And most of these people, jumpa kat Silence Room (tempat solat)....

Cuma tu lah... since Saturday, Meen was not feeling too good. Tapi nasib baik ada bawak paracetamol & ubat batuk.... kalau tidak... Ya Allah punya lah susah nak jumpa doktor kat sini... "your children have to be registered with the GP, and before you can register them, YOU have to be registered.... and to do that, we need some sort of letter from the company, blah blah blah...."... by the time dapat jumpa doktor, memang dah tak sakit lah jawabnya.

As a matter of fact, kat sini, diorang tak de bagi ubat pun... sebab the doctors will let the children "heal themselves"... antibiotics seme memang tak de... and only if the children are not well after 5 days, then only they will do something!!! hmmm... somehow it's so easy in KL... merata-rata ada klinik, 24 jam lagi! But people here are used to that concept so the parents becomes own doctors to the kids....

Anyway, Meen dah beransur baik tapi Haikal pulak baru nak develop fever & cough... tapi yang best nya, semalam ada jumpa Vicks Vaporub!!! kat Kruidvart (pronounced as Kruadvart)... so malam tadi dok tenyeh lah kat Haikal (and Meen too)... Rasanya, as usual, it helps clear the lungs.... tapi Haikal, tengah tidur pun, boleh batuk2 and muntah (muntah baring tu!)!! Which is good also sebab apparently macam all the phlegms pun keluar sama... and in the morning, he's not as whiny as the last 2 days......

That's pretty much the updates for today.... nantilah kalau sempat, I'll take photos with the people I know.. at least can put faces to names........

Sunday in Leiden

By today, the kids are a bit better though Meen still has a running nose... so we decided to go to another university township called Leiden. Ervan is familiar with the place so he took us on the "tour"... but most importantly for Haikal, we took the "Thomas merah" from the apt to the Central Station, and then "blue & yellow Thomas" to Leiden.... tak jauh sangat la and it's about 5-6 euros (return) per person.... OK lah.



Haikal kat rumah & Meen dalam Thomas on the way to Leiden - tengah selsema tu!

Sampai kat sana, naik bas dulu sebab Ervan was looking for a "wall" with Malay (or Indonesian) scriptures on it... it's actually the poem from Chairil Anwar..... and here it is:

AKU

Kalau sampai waktuku
Ku mau tak seorang kan merayu
Tidak juga kau

Tak perlu sedu sedan itu

Aku ini binatang jalang
Dari kumpulanya terbuang

Biar peluru menembus kulitku
Aku tetap meradang menerjang

Luka dan bisa ku bawa berlari
Berlari
Hingga hilang pedih peri

Dan aku akan lebih tidak perduli

Aku mahu hidup seribu tahun lagi

Chairil Anwar (1922 – 1949)


This is where the scripture was found....

In fact ada banyak kat Uni ni, in different languages - and there's abook of it. Somehow, the lady that we all tumpang ambik gambo tu bagi free kat Ervan (though in Dutch)....

Dah lepas tu, ingat nak ambik bas semula ke town dia tapi sebab on Sunday, bus will not arrive for another hour (or almost). So we all jalan le.. tapi Haikal ngantuk pulak lagi so kenalah dukung dia... kena lah take a few breaks... jenuh gak nak sampai town! Ada lah kot 1 km jugak kitorang jalan!


Tini, kids & Ervan - taking a break....


Cantik tak?

Dah jumpa town, first thing.... makan!!! Sedap lah Tosti (grilled cheese sandwich) and smoked salmon panini... tapi tak sempat amik gambar sebab dah lapor. Lepas tu jalan2 lagi... tengok je lah gambo!


Haikal kat kedai makan tu....


Scenery in front of the cafe shop



Tha Stadhuis.....


Dah lepas makan, we walked a bit more... and guess what, this is a FERRARI you know!!



Along the shopping area (but most are closed on Sun)... and this big mouse... Meen is just so surprised to see the big mouse





Scenery of the canal area......


And we're supposed to be able to get on this windmill... tapi tutup on Sun.

The followings are just photo shoots of the kids at kids at the playground in front of the windmill.... Meen always want to do what her brother is doing.... and the weather has been sooooo nice we did not need to put our jackets on!













Rasanya next Sat macam nak datang sini lagi.. for the Sat market and the windmill ride... just for the fun of it...

A half-day in Amsterdam

I'd say it's quite an expensive trip with not many things achieved... but then we at least get to cruise through Asmterdam in 1 hour.... considering that the kids were not too OK.. so it was still worth it.

In the morning, Haikal had earlier vomited... and whole night he was having a fever... but was still insisting on a "thomas" ride. I didnt know where else to go (no real plans) so we still made it to Amsterdam. The return trip was around 16 euros per person (kids below 4 - free!)...


Haikal & Meen getting ready for the trip

By the time we reached Amsterdam, it was almost noon....


Ni sekitar Central Station Amsterdam.... background pun tak berapa clear....


To ensure ada "amsterdam" dalam gambar (macam "kiasu" je ek? hee hee hee)

Ya Allah... punya lah lama nak tunggu kat tourist info tu! Haikal lak, sebab tak berapa sihat, dah ngantuk, nak dukung.. sebab nak tido... boleh tercabut pinggang rasanya! By the time dah dapat info, most excursions kena tunggu lagi 2-3 jam... malas la (and it could take 2-3 hours lak tu!)... so we decided to just go on the 1-hour canal cruise je..

And most of the photos are from the boat...


Just inside the cruise boat... Meen dah terlentuk... and muka Haikal yang selalu senyum pun, dah mencuka je


The boat house - some of them become museums.... and not sure what the other one is


Tak dengar dah apa these buildings mean...








I think this one is the view of the Red Light District...




View of the canal... and the B&W has been the house of the Mayors of Amsterdam since the beginning (I think it's no 502). B&W is like the official color...


The second photo has got to do with Holland being below sea level, I think




Left is, I think, the Parliament house or sth... and the next one is their Performing Arts building


A house with lots of windows also has some signifance to NL....

By this time, Haikal has already fallen asleep... so all the photos are mainly taken from the seat...





This is the view of The Amsterdam... i think it was used during those days to conquer other countries... but has now become a museum...


The side view of the Amsterdam..... and nampak tak nama dia kat belakang bot tu?

So we left the cruise and headed back to the Central Amsterdam Station... tapi sebelum tu sempat singgah bilik air (punya lah canggih, masukkan 50 euro cents so lepas tu pintu dia zasssss terbukak sideways.. kalau lambat sket, sure tersepit! Tapi bila nak keluar, pandai pulak tak perlu coins - the sensor works!!)... Lepas tu, makan Fish Burger kat Burger King (tawakkal je la) and headed to The Hague.


Sampai apt dlm 4pm so sempatlah nak Zohor lagi....