Land of the Windmills
The trip to visit Ziad and pusing-pusing Amsterdam was very much anticipated and everybody was looking forward to the trip especially Atok who has always wanted to see the windmills. Our first stop was Groningen which is located in the northern part of Netherlands and is a university town filled with scores of students. Ziad has recently started his first year of post-graduate studies and insyaAllah in 3 years time we shall have to call him Dr Ziad. He seems to be enjoying himself there despite being the only Malay student in the resident hall and 1 out of 3 Malaysian PhD students at the university. His room mate is a Czech and we think that he has settled down pretty well with his trusty old bike and all plus getting lost in the Red Light District of Groningen….heh..heh..heh……all part and parcel of getting acquainted with the area…
After berkelah makan-makan food that we brought like nasi tomato, dalca, daging masak merah, lasagne and apple crumble and not forgetting delicious kurma ayam prepared by Ziad himself (bertuah saper dapat dia ni….pandai masak) at his room, we kidnapped him to join us in our excursion to Amsterdam. Since we booked 2 rooms, one being a quad, there was space for everybody. The food that we had for lunch became our dinner and breakfast the next day as there was plenty to share around while huddled together in one of the rooms….we seludup the big periuk nasi electric in one of the luggage which acted as heater for the rice and dalca , all the while praying that the proprietor of the hotel did not catch a whiff of the aroma emanating from the room…siap bukak tingkap lagi takut asap trigger the smoke detector.
Malam tu, me and hubby nak tunjuk kat Atok and Ziad Amsterdam nite life so we stationed Tok Ma at the hotel to babysit the kids and off we went. Parking is a nighmare in the city center but we managed to find one empty space, parked and we went to see what we came to see…Red Light District..…macam-macam ada….all shapes and sizes…balik kereta tengok kena saman sebab hubby tak bayar parking coz he thought that malam tak payah bayar. What an expensive saman it was….50 Euro! Aper nak buat, bayar ajer la. Instant balasan for sins committed….
Esoknya, we went to Zahn Schan which is kind of an open air museum with old windmills, clog making demo, cheese making demo and shop where we sampled the cheese to our hearts content….I think we were the only ones yang went round a few times to sample them until we got weird glances from the staff manning the counter but what the heck…them cheese were really tasty eaten with a dollop of mustard!
Our next stop was a fisherman village in Vollendam. We were really hungry by that time and thought that a meal of fish and chips awaits us there but alas it was not to be….my purse got picked in one of the souvenir shops. It was totally my fault as I was careless….having stayed in Germany where the crime rate is very low, I assumed that all European countries have the same standard. So there I was stringing my handbag unzipped with the kids putting in/taking out their gloves and what not as I was walking. No surprise that those jerks must have been observing me and thought that I was easy meat. It must have happened in the shop when I was engrossed choosing some souvenirs for Tok Ma to bring home. When I thought back, I recalled 2 gentlemen sibuk nak menyempit kat counter tempat nak bayar tu but I thought nothing of it until I realized that my purse was gone when we wanted to buy our lunch.
Sedar jer, terus pucat muka and tak der selera nak makan and we went back straight home after that. Kesian Atok….he also lost his appetite and was looking glum throughout the rest of the journey back home….Tok Ma said that he was so worried for me and when he’s worried he doesn’t say a word. So pitiful…. It was rounds of calling the banks in Malaysia to cancel my cards….leceh dan menyusahkan betul but what to do….rice dah turned into porridge…Amidst all the sad faces and heavy hearts as we were about to leave Amsterdam, Syirah suddenly blurted out….tu la Mama and Abah…..saper suruh pergi tempat tu last nite….ni semua balasan….hubby laughed tapi kelat jer bunyi nyer….
That was the finale our trip to Holland. Although it ended on a sad note, it still remains one of my favourite places to visit…something about them windmills that beckons me time and time again….
The trip to visit Ziad and pusing-pusing Amsterdam was very much anticipated and everybody was looking forward to the trip especially Atok who has always wanted to see the windmills. Our first stop was Groningen which is located in the northern part of Netherlands and is a university town filled with scores of students. Ziad has recently started his first year of post-graduate studies and insyaAllah in 3 years time we shall have to call him Dr Ziad. He seems to be enjoying himself there despite being the only Malay student in the resident hall and 1 out of 3 Malaysian PhD students at the university. His room mate is a Czech and we think that he has settled down pretty well with his trusty old bike and all plus getting lost in the Red Light District of Groningen….heh..heh..heh……all part and parcel of getting acquainted with the area…
After berkelah makan-makan food that we brought like nasi tomato, dalca, daging masak merah, lasagne and apple crumble and not forgetting delicious kurma ayam prepared by Ziad himself (bertuah saper dapat dia ni….pandai masak) at his room, we kidnapped him to join us in our excursion to Amsterdam. Since we booked 2 rooms, one being a quad, there was space for everybody. The food that we had for lunch became our dinner and breakfast the next day as there was plenty to share around while huddled together in one of the rooms….we seludup the big periuk nasi electric in one of the luggage which acted as heater for the rice and dalca , all the while praying that the proprietor of the hotel did not catch a whiff of the aroma emanating from the room…siap bukak tingkap lagi takut asap trigger the smoke detector.
Malam tu, me and hubby nak tunjuk kat Atok and Ziad Amsterdam nite life so we stationed Tok Ma at the hotel to babysit the kids and off we went. Parking is a nighmare in the city center but we managed to find one empty space, parked and we went to see what we came to see…Red Light District..…macam-macam ada….all shapes and sizes…balik kereta tengok kena saman sebab hubby tak bayar parking coz he thought that malam tak payah bayar. What an expensive saman it was….50 Euro! Aper nak buat, bayar ajer la. Instant balasan for sins committed….
Esoknya, we went to Zahn Schan which is kind of an open air museum with old windmills, clog making demo, cheese making demo and shop where we sampled the cheese to our hearts content….I think we were the only ones yang went round a few times to sample them until we got weird glances from the staff manning the counter but what the heck…them cheese were really tasty eaten with a dollop of mustard!
Our next stop was a fisherman village in Vollendam. We were really hungry by that time and thought that a meal of fish and chips awaits us there but alas it was not to be….my purse got picked in one of the souvenir shops. It was totally my fault as I was careless….having stayed in Germany where the crime rate is very low, I assumed that all European countries have the same standard. So there I was stringing my handbag unzipped with the kids putting in/taking out their gloves and what not as I was walking. No surprise that those jerks must have been observing me and thought that I was easy meat. It must have happened in the shop when I was engrossed choosing some souvenirs for Tok Ma to bring home. When I thought back, I recalled 2 gentlemen sibuk nak menyempit kat counter tempat nak bayar tu but I thought nothing of it until I realized that my purse was gone when we wanted to buy our lunch.
Sedar jer, terus pucat muka and tak der selera nak makan and we went back straight home after that. Kesian Atok….he also lost his appetite and was looking glum throughout the rest of the journey back home….Tok Ma said that he was so worried for me and when he’s worried he doesn’t say a word. So pitiful…. It was rounds of calling the banks in Malaysia to cancel my cards….leceh dan menyusahkan betul but what to do….rice dah turned into porridge…Amidst all the sad faces and heavy hearts as we were about to leave Amsterdam, Syirah suddenly blurted out….tu la Mama and Abah…..saper suruh pergi tempat tu last nite….ni semua balasan….hubby laughed tapi kelat jer bunyi nyer….
That was the finale our trip to Holland. Although it ended on a sad note, it still remains one of my favourite places to visit…something about them windmills that beckons me time and time again….
Amsterdam at Night..costly affair cos kena samam parking 50 Euro....
At Henri Willig, Amsterdam
Upacara merasa cheese by Malaysian contingent....
At Volandam....Mama's purse kena curi in the shop below....but the purse was found about 20km fr Amsterdam 2 weeks later minus the cash (off course) by Hamba Allah while doing his daily walking exercise and returned the purse by post....Alhamdullillah....
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