Monday 11 February 2008

No Kidding!



Back in Malaysia, you can fill up your tyres with air free of charge. just go into any petrol stations and you'll see the pump.

Here, in the Netherlands, its pretty much the same. just go to any petrol stations and you'll see the pump. but before the air gets to travel the tube to your tyres, you'd have to put 0,50 cents in the machine first.

Yes, air costs 0,50 cents.

I remembered once, when we first moved here, we were on our way back home, from a long journey. we were on the highway and stopped for petrol and air. Hardy filled up the tank and drove towards the pump. he got out, he stood there and later smiled towards me.

Hardy: "we have to pay for air".
Zaza: "thats ridiculous! hah? serious? you're kidding me! jom carik tempat lain" (lets find another petrol station)
Hardy: "i think they're all the same, we're in holland!"
Zaza: "then we go to belgium or germany!"'
Hardy: "noooOOOoooo... if we have to pay, we have to pay...."

Hahaha.. thank goodness we are in sittard! where both belgium and germany are 10 mins drive!!



When you pay 0,50 cents, you have 5 minuites of air!!

But anyway, we paid for it. unlike Hardy, i seriously need to adapt myself to the country. the last thing i want now that i live here is to be a kiasu.

Guys, if you're getting air for free, never ever take it for granted!

For us, even if we have to pay high taxes, even if they charge us for our garbage, even if we complain about the weather sometimes, and the 0,50 cents for 5 minuites of air, we still love it here!!


Z

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

thank your lucky star youre in holland. i just moved to sitges, barcelona and am hating it! susah nak cari ingredients to cook malay food , most exotic is ginger! ada ke?? i miss hilversum where i lived for 3 years! btw does anyone knows any msian or sporeans here? please reply ya..am going nuts here.

ZazaHardy said...

anonymous: dulu when i first moved here, being pregnant pulak tu, even chillies i'd use them sampai ke hujung! and bila buat sambal belacan, makan sampai jilat jari! how precious! and after a while, we found a good toko near our place.

i dont know of any asians living in barcelona, sorry. but i'm super sure, in time, you too will find good asian grocers there. just hang in there!

we are going to barcelona this summer, perhaps i should bring some ginger? hope june's not too late for you!?

ANYONE KNOWS WHERE TO FIND GINGER IN BARCELONA?! HELP US! :)

do keep us informed ya? and take care, hang in there!

ICook4Fun said...

Zaza, kat sini kita kena bayar jugak. First 0.50 and kena isi cepat cepat if not kena taruk 0.50 again :) :) Yeah, kat Malaysia we can get if for FREE!!

Ummi said...

ohh thanks zaza at least we know more about it.. so i tak bole nak buang buang air kat sini he he he.

Lollies said...

kat Qtar tak semua pump minyak ada angin. you need to find bengkel tayar for angin. some pump minyak has bengkel tayar nearby. this pump angin is not DIY though. Someone will do it for you. usually it is expected that you give some money.

however kalau dekat dengan dune, they immediately charge you 4 riyals for both buang angin and isi angin. sebabnya to get into teh dunes first you have to deflate you tyre and then coming out onto normal road you iinflate it back.

but now we got ourselves our own pump to deflate and inflate. more because malas nak queusu yang punyalah lamanya to both deflate and inflate.

so now i can fill up your angin for free. :D

Anonymous said...

hahha macam2 cerita pasal angin ehh. never thought any country would charge for angin. unless of course attended by someone, pay for the service. but if it's self service why paying eh? must be a special air. hehehee. yaya.

psst. welkam back za to the blog scene...we kinda missed ur good, colorful stories! hehhe. aidan is so cute and getting bigger by the day! he's the luckiest world traveller ehh.

Brecht said...

Z, i havent notice what the charges here are for air, since we hv only recently got a car. Will keep my eyes open and see if its free here ; )

ZazaHardy said...

guys, will reply to your comments tomorrow k. gonna call it a day, too tired today. sempat tulis blog je! have a good night!

Z

Anonymous said...

It makes you appreciate things you took for granted all this while kan. It sure makes me appreciate air more in Malaysia now and spices and sambal, and chillies, and tau fu fah andyong tau fu and char kuey tiaw and satay and kuah kacang, ooops sorry zaza, I must be hungry. Haven't taken anything yet for breakfast, he he he.

Keep well.

ZazaHardy said...

gert: ahhh. at least bukan holland je yang kedekut! hehe!! gert, i did hor fun last weekend. tak jadi la. i dont have your pan and your fingers i think... and i used chinese cabage instead of sawi! :(

ummi: jangan buang air merata rata! heheh....

lollies: this is so good! i get to know kat US pon kena bayar, and kat Qtar tak semua stesen minyak ada angin!! and what?!?!?! nak buang angin pon kena bayar?!?! and what did you get? mesin pam tayar? besar tak?

yaya: after writing about pam tayar kan, i get to know kat US macam mana, kat Qtar macam mana.. hahaha!! best!! pasal angin pon boleh compare notes!
anyway... now busy gila ngan aidan. and by the time nak blog, i'd be too tired!! but i shall try my best to reply to comments and write! and thanks for reading! ;)

mush: let us know yea! and have fun with the new car! you drive?

wiz: you're absolutely right wiz.. and HEY! what's this mentioning tau fu fah and yong tau foo!! ayaaaaa.....

Z

Dilip Mutum said...

At least we have a choice here in Coventry. It's min 20p at BP but it's free at Tesco.

Chibi Maruko said...

Its 25 cent here, tapi bukan semua gas station.. dan seperti tertulis, ialah tu walaubagaimanapun katanya seperti tertulis, its for charity.

Anonymous said...

hello Zaza... how are you? goodness the hero has grown...

on the pump, I'd rather have to pay and know it works rather than free but rosak most of the time. at home most of them are either rosak, missing metal bits (thanks to mat gians) and sometimes the buttons are stuck so you cant choose the pressure.

i've even stopped going to the petronas nearest to my house as their air pumps are out of service most of the time and the towkay there buat bodoh je bila kena komplen. would you rather pump petrol at one place and drive to another to pump air? i'd rather pay the 50cents.

and in Sittard, do those machines give out air or nitrogen? if nitrogen for 50cents, that's cheap!

raya tahun ni balik?

SAY