::yellow::

yellow is the new black?  you use yellow color today because it's the national day of your home country.
sunflower is not your favorite flower but it's yellow and that's all matter.
yellow color code has been used to denote bersih (clean) that imply democratic and corruption free during the two days of demonstration for your country that took place in the globally.

and today, sitting thousand miles away from your birth country, you just said a prayer that God will rebuild the land, restore the currency and bless the country and doing justice for your folks there  are fighting against a corrupted government for a clean country and a better future.

you're not politically savvy but you do care for the well being of your nation  after all it's still your motherland even though you have not reside there for more than 10 years.

psalm 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

windmill.schermerhorn

tourist in your adopted land.  a brief stopover at schermerhorn to pay a visit to the windmill after the cheese market.
you just love dutch country side in spring and summer. so pretty!

祝寿

so the plan was between a bbq at your place subject to the weather condition or an indoor dinner at your sil. it's never easy to plan in the lowland and particularly in the late august.
despite of many rainy days before, you're blessed with a fine saturday where you could call a bbq to celebrate your mil's birthday.
you're only given the tasks to prepare some salad and side dishes whilst the bbq meat marinate is all done by your mil.
weather really matters in this country and you're so blessed to have such a fine weather to celebrate this special occasion with family and close friends. you're really thankful to God for this.

:alkmaar::

your first visit to the cheese market.  finally you made it finally after living 13 years in lowland.  it's a sunny and warm day, such a perfect weather to be a tourist in your adopted land with your friends and visitor from your homeland.

::chives.harvest::

late summer is here and you could sense the hint of autumn in the air already.  likewise your garden is telling you the same thing, the chinese chives is growing well and blossoming.  you decided to trim it down to encourage further growth before winter arrives.

home grown chives are fragrant and fully of aroma.  you mixed the cut chives to minced pork and turned most of it into chinese dumplings and the remaining minced pork into giant pork balls.

italian.luncheon

it's a long overdue appointment but you finally have your dear friend cum sister from church over for an elaborated italian lunch.  it's no longer in the garden setting but it's still equally enjoyable in the dining room.
you missed this type of fellowship where all taking time to dine, chit chat, update and encourage one another.

something happened recently in your circle of life (and also affected a number of other people) and despite her husband is the victim, you don't see any resentment or unforgiveness in his eyes.  on the contrary, you chatted constructively about the incident and also face time with another couple who is now residing in malaysia to inform them the situation (incident).  after all, who has no wrong and God has given us the second chance or even third an fourth chance, and thus who are you(we) all to judge somebody. you're determined to help, in small and little way, provided the other party is willing and open for help.

look.down

 you guess not many people actually look down at the street to notice some of these beautiful motifs.  this is along monte napoleon, the famous shopping street in milan.  in fact most people will be too busy window shopping or going in and out the various boutiques along this street.

 for you, the only shop that you visited is this popped out temporary toothpaste and skin care shop.  a classic milanese brand that not commonly available elsewhere.  you followed your instinct here after reading it in a magazine.  the brand evolved from toothpaste but now also carries a series of skincare products.  interesting history and brief visit

and then you are at the metro hopping into it bound for your hotel, your overlay in milan is coming to an end.

ciao.duomo

you normally don't pay duomo a visit  even though you have been stopping over milan quite regularly.  this square is always crowded with tourists and it's almost impossible to get a quaint photo where there're less people.  since your need to stop here  to change from tram to metro, so you decided to swing by the duomo and the famous building next to it.
set aside the weather and seeing duomo in the summer setting, there's nothing much to shout about from your prespective.

::navigli::

just as stone throw away from metropolitan is the navigli district.  you been here before, many years ago and this is still your preferred area of milan compare to the more prestigious or pretentious districts.  it's really cozy here even in the middle of the day, highly dense with cafes, restaurants and unique shops along the canals.
the day itself just made this district even more beautiful and quaint.  a short walk along the both side of canal brought so much excitement to you trip.  you wish you could spend more time here, perhaps from late afternoon to the evening but that will have to be next time.
and you're really thankful to God that you can have such an experience in between your business trips.  you're blessed!

::metropolitano::

 this is a temporary institution from may to october.  you decided to check this out since milan is really a shopping paradise and since you're not in the shopping mood, food browsing in less international tourist spot is probably the best option.

 the market opens at 11am daily, you're here just after 11am and it's still rather empty.

 business has started but the customers are few hence making it a very leisure experience to stroll and browse..

 there's a market at the end of the converted barn. here you saw your favorite fruits purple and green figs but they're just too fragile to haul back to lowland...

 some interesting drinks and the deceiving chocolate (which you had a taste and it's good)

 the freshly peeled potato chips deep fried on the spot and many other choices for lunch or dinner

 and the dessert, you would have grab a millefogilie if the owner is mending his store when you ordered your coffee next door.

at the end you just had an award wining coffee bean flat white.  next time you will have light or no breakfast if you ever come back again to this market before october.
and this is really milan's answer to london's borough market or barcelorna's mercat de la borgueria.