Fabulous Finds

This is the closest thing that we can get to a real 'pasar'. i LOVE the market! we get our supplies of fresh fish almost every saturday, and i normally get our fresh flowers to add some colour to our home whenever we're at one.

There's tonnes you can find at the market. i love to scout for rare finds (most of the time i'm unsuccessful). but i get some kind of a thrill from just browsing!

Just when people back home in malaysia are sighing and complaining of the rise of the oil prices and everything else, over here, i am so thankful that we can still afford to buy a great bunch for just 5 euros! just look at the the veges and fresh fruits! and what this particular store was offering was:

2 avocados

2 boxes of roma tomatoes

2 papayas

2 sweet mangoes

1 gala melon

1kg mandarin

2 whole salads

FOR just 5Euros! yes! 5 euros for all the above!

... and this was what i found recently! hortensia cards and envelope set of 5 brand new and some crochets and handkerchiefs for my crafts! what luck!

This is it for now guys, we're now at Czech Republic, our last holiday for this summer! there's simply too much to share and write, i wish i have more time!! take care everyone!

A common sight.. and something a little bit uncommon..

In summer, this is a common sight on the roads in the netherlands. i think almost 45% of the dutch owns a caravan and almost 99.9% owns a bike. the facilities for holiday makers with caravans and bikes are endless here in holland. we have yet to try it though!

Oh, and see if you can find anything odd in these pictures! guess where!

True

Remember i wrote about how frustrated i was, not being able to meet my bestest of best friend yoyo in Barcelona? well, we did meet! we managed to meet up after we got back from our Barcelona trip, and after yoyo's done with her tour of Spain. we met during her transit back to Malaysia at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam.

Everytime i talk about her, speak to her, she'd bring tears to my eyes. i honestly miss her. we've come a long long way. she knows me in and out, through and fro. she defines a true friend and in her i find so much sincerity and love. she's the type of friend who'll be there for you, regardless, she's the type of friend who cares simply too much, she's the type of friend who's willing to sacrifice her time to just make you happy.. and if there's one pair of shoes left at the store (we're the same size) or if there's only one handbag left and we both love it, and we both want the exact same one so so badly, she's the type of friend who's willing to let go and let you have it! the list goes on and on. she never questions you, she never bring things up, she gossips (when needed!), she looks at the bright side of things, she calms me down, she balance me off, we're simply ourselves when we're together.. she's trully amazing.

I was in a very bad state once, very very bad state. she (of course alongside others), was there for me. let me say it again - she was REALLY there for me. she listened to every whining, every moaning patiently. as much as she wants me to get better, she allowed me to be myself and just simply do the things that i wanted to do. she held strong and stayed positive for me. we've been through thick and thin together and i can never repay her for that.

Having someone like her in my life makes me even more complete. yeah, of course the distance is there, we dont call or text each other every day, but deep down, we both know the bond is still there and will always be there. nothing has changed apart from both living on different parts of the world.

Now that you have a child, you wish for only the best for him. i pray and hope Aidan will be surrounded with sincere people. sincere people who will make him into a better person. Aidan would be extremely lucky if he has a good friend like mine! i hope he will know the real meaning of a friend.

At the end of the day, it doesnt matter how many friends you have, but what matters most is what kind of friends you have. i trully love yoyo to bits and i trust her with all my life.


After almost 3 years of not seeing each other, that day, we met for only 4 hours. how i wish it could have been longer. but 4 hours of giggles, hugs, catching up was worth the 4 hours journey to and from our home. we sobbed uncontrollably at the gates as we waived goodbye and i was quiet half the journey back to Sittard.

I love hear dearly, and i miss her every single day... and if i can have one wish right now, i wish she could have all the best things in life, for she trully deserves it!

I hope we dont have to wait for another 3 more years to see each other! anyway, i'm gonna wipe off my tears and call it a day now... another day where i wish my close, best friend's here...


Z

Bit by Bit... and it's Bijna Klaar!

I kept mentioning about our garden, and how i enjoy being in my garden since early spring. it all started when the sun came out and some our plants started to shoot out with buds. i then started clearing out the 'jungle' (part of it looked like a little jungle, well at least for Aidan). later, slowly pulled out some weeds and some sharp plants we had, just so Aidan wont hurt himself when outside playing.. and then, i saw the need to tidy up the back garden a bit since mum and dad are coming... and now that they're here, and we're still in the mood of things... we got carried away!

I'm honestly not into gardening, but i somehow love pulling out weeds! i dont grow well, so i might just stick to artificial flowers. but in this kind of weather, you cant help but to love growing, love planting, and love everything in the garden centre! before mum and dad arrived, Hardy and i bought a garden set. the next step was to lay out the slabs. over here, there are no such things as calling "tukang kebun" (a gardener) to do it for you (well actually you can if you're mighty rich). otherwise, you'll have to do everything youself! and that's just what we did!

We bought and carried everything from slabs to sand. the car carried 50 slabs each weighing 10kgs and almost 10 bags of sand each weighing 25kgs each! you do the maths! of course not all in one go... but still!

Bit by bit, and easy does it... bijna klaar (almost ready), we're getting there...
Well done boys!

June 2006 - 2 weeks after we bought the house

July 2006 - a month and a half before Aidan came into the world (yes i know, we're crazy! long story)

June 2007 - see told you it was like a little jungle!

June 2008 - Aidan in his pool in the garden

July 2008 - Aidan helping out Oma pulling out some unwanted plants

Men at work

The boys responsible for the entire garden. Well done boys! Thank you for making it all possible! (as for we girls, we're responsible for buying the flowers and chosing the furniture, as well as making sure they (boys and plants) are well fed, hydrated and motivated!)

August 2008

And look what our garden planner (dad) did last night... a layout plan for our garden... nope, it's still not done yet!

.... to be continued..... (hopefully very soon!)

Z