Finally Berlin

It is a very last minute decision, in fact a change of plan.. The original plan is to go to Normandy, France but due to bad weather forecast, I have to cancel all hotel bookings and also as a result of a good weather forecast, we decided to drive to Berlin, Germany.

Finally after more than 9 hours drive, partly due to more than 2 hours of traffic jam, we finally arrived the city center of Berlin. In fact our hotel is situated at the former East Germany. Will definitely check out the city tomorrow, hopefully the warm weather lasts for the next few days.

The Most Powerful Equation

Jesus + = TOTAL SATISFACTION

This is the most powerful equation that I learned over last weekend at the Leadership Seminars. This equation is shared by Pastor John Olis under the covering of Hill Song Church Sydney.

Flower Parade 2008

Saturday 26^th April 2008

It feels like the first warm spring day so far and I am waiting eagerly at Sassenheim for the annual flower parade to pass by. The schedule time is 12:10 noon but the flower carousels didn’t arrived until 12:40. It is a relatively long wait under the spring sun heat, which is rather warm. The theme of the flower parade this year is called ‘holiday’. Therefore the procession comprises of 20 large floats interspersed by marching bands, most of the floats displays are around holiday destination such as India with beautiful elephants, Schiphol airport control tower, ski and snowboarding, Swiss Alps, and many others. It is a celebration of colors and a proclamation of flowers, so beautifully displayed and a feast to the eyes.

Visitor from Singapore

13th April 2008

An ex-colleague of mine from Singapore visiting the Netherlands, it was a good time to catch up briefly except that we both suffered jet lag due to long haul flight, for Lam, Sunday was the first day of arrival, and for me, I just returned from Chicago...

But we had a good chat, and the dinner at Sea Palace Amsterdam was not bad after all...

Making New Friends

Well, after a hectic week of learning, the course is now drawing to an end. It has been a great week, I learned a lot about Value Added Program Management, definitely a course to follow, besides that I also make a lot of new friends from other countries. There are about 28 of us, most of them are from the United States, some from Latin America, a handful of us from Europe.

As usual, some of them may be I will not see them anymore, others, Federica (next to me - an Italian working in Sophia Antipolis) and Özgün ( Far right - a Turkish working in Germany) and me (a Malaysian working in Amsterdam), we kind of gelled together very well especially with the culture background that we have. Furthermore, we all working in Europe and that make it easier to keep the contact.

Well, it is indeed time to say good bye and let's keep in touch and see you sometime, somewhere again in the globe.

For me, I can't wait to fly home...

Chicago here I come again...

Finally it is about time to fly again...

I am leaving for Chicago in the next 4 hours, for my annual training in St. Charles. I am getting a bit excited now, will be staying in Chicago for 2 nights and then on Sunday move to the Q center in St. Charles..

United States, here I come again...

Gelato Italiano

The other name of Italian ice cream is called Gelato. Although the weather is not that hot that one must crave for it, but how could you miss the ice cream when you are in Italy. I searched at my lonely planet and it recommended Gelateria Giolitti. It is said to have been Pope /john Paul II’s favorite, the marrons glace (chesnut) is one of the Giolitti’s 70 flavors. It was very crowded as you can see from the picture, and it was also a big challenge to decide 9 flavors in a very short time and I managed to make good combinations for all three of us.

A Sardinia Palette

This is a journey of culinary and the enjoyment of taste through a humble family run restaurant at Via Assisi, Rome. Despite of the outlook of the restaurant, the food it offers has the taste of heaven.

Every ingredient is fresh and the cooking is simple, but the freshness and the complexity of has brought my taste bud to heaven, every single combination, the wine, the herbs, the key ingredient are matched flawlessly and this culinary experience is beyond compression. Could you imagine I dined here twice? And I miss the Linguine with clams and mullet roe. yum yum...

The Romans Empire

I remembered I took the same photo 13 years ago when I first visited Rome after my graduation. I took the same picture again this time but with my digital camera. The European history and especially the Romans one has never been appealing to me until I moved over to the Netherlands. Also, with Johannes who is more or less a “living” Romans historian, knowing all the Romans history by heart, has been converting me or imparting in me the Romans history and its empire. Also after the HBO and BBC TV series Rome 1 and Rome 2, I started to appreciate the bricks and the stones that I stepped on in Rome. Perhaps every single inch of the soil has a Romans story to tell and every step I walked may be on top of some undiscovered ruins of Roman’s past glory.

A lovely Tuscany and Umbria Sunset

17th March 2008

After Venice, the tour bus drove us to the south west direction to Rome. Along the way, we passed by Tuscany and Umbria country site which are also the vineyard and wine area. I have read many books about the landscape and the sunset in this region, also my memory barely recalled the landscape and the scenery of Florence which I visited 13 years ago and we are not going this time. I saw much beautiful scenery along the way, the sun was about to set since it is about the dawn time, the views are so... Scenic and romantic. How I wish I could just stop there and then, find a cottage or a farm house and live there like a local for a week or so… Well, there is a time and season for every activity under the sun, I believe the time will come where Johannes and me can go to the local market, but the fresh products or perhaps visiting the vineyard of Luigi’s parents and celebrate the harvest in the village.

Verona - The city of Romeo and Juliet

16th March 2008

After Milan, we continued our journey to Verona. It was not until we reached the bronze Juliet's statue I suddenly recalled that I have been to this city before. Of course it was 14 years ago. No wonder some memories slipped my mind...

Roman Amphitheatre

There is another coliseum which existed at least 40 years before the Rome’s Coliseum. The arena is like a pink marble Roman amphitheatre, built in 1^st AD and is now a opera house. It can sit around 20,000 people and remarkably well preserved.

It was Sunday afternoon when we arrived. There were lots of people, both tourists and locals visiting the city at the same time. It was almost impossible to walk passed the narrow street without pushing elbow to elbow.

Piazza Delle Erbe

Originally the site of Roman forum, but the permanent market stalls in its centre detract from its beauty, the square actually is the lined with some of Verona’s most sumptuous buildings.

Casa Di Giulietta – Romeo and Juliet may have been utterly functional but here you can swoon beneath what the popular myth says was on her balcony.

The slew of scribbled love graffiti on the wall of the house.

The Arco della Costa, beneath which a whale’s rib is suspended. Legend says it will fall on the first ‘just’ person to walk beneath it. In several centuries, it has never fallen, not even on the various popes who have paraded beneath it.

m!L@No

16th March 2008

We arrived Milan today, my favorite Milanese pastry store - Luini was closed today since it is a Sunday. The fast food takeaway of Luini, just off the Piazza Duomo, is very popular, it specialized in panzerotti, a kind of deep fried folded pizza which are delicious. The panzerotti is actually a traditional dish of Bari, in the the south of Italy, but Luini make an excellent northern version of it, along with many other freshly made cakes and savories. Too bad it is not open today.

When you arrived Milan, you can possible missed the Cathedral. Milan’s impressive navel, Piazza del Duomo, home to Milan’s most visible monument, the cathedral, has been Milan’s social, geographical and pigeon center since medieval time. The cathedral holds a congregation of up to 40,000. The first glimpse of this late Gothic wonder is memorable, with its marble façade shaped into pinnacles, statues and pillars, the whole held together by a web of flying buttresses.

Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – Milan’s drawing room, house of many expensive boutiques, the city of fashion probably derive from here...

The next thing I notice in Milan is that everyone is holding some palm leaves and later I realize that it was Palm Sunday (a Sunday preceding Easter). Then I heard some angelic voices singing in Latin and those beautiful voices brought me into the Duomo of Milan. There was a Sunday Mass going on but visitors are still allow to go in cathedral.

Journey through the Alps

15th March 2008

Today, we sat all day in the bus, the bus passes by Dijon and then Beaunne, Macon, basically the Burgundy wine area and then towards Italy and the Alps district.

The journey in the morning was smooth, I didn’t sleep at all in the bus as the Burgundy landscape was captivating and occupying my mind as I tried to associate with those Burgundy wine that I have tasted to the area that the bus passed by.

Later in the afternoon, the traffic became worst as everyone is heading for the ski holiday towards Grenoble.

Once we passed through a 17km tunnel (shared by France and Italy), we finally arriving to the Italy boarder. It has been a long day, almost 9 hours in the bus….

But the Alps scenery has been amazing; we passed through valleys, hills and uncountable number of tunnels and finally reached Turin in the evening.

La Petit Paris

13th and 14th March

I just realized in this trip that my French is sufficed even without Johannes around. The weather is not good, still very windy although the amount of rainfall has decreased. We stayed 3 nights and 2 days in Paris. Again for me, I have gone beyond the tourist activities. I have my own distinction between tourist and traveler, and I regarded myself as traveler. Although the tour only offered us tourist itinerary, but I managed to sneak out on most part and do my own thing in Paris. It would be ashamed if I have not strolled along the streets of Paris and sip a cup of coffee at a normal price. While they went on the boat trip, I went my own way to a normal street side café and had my cup of espresso and enjoyed people watching and reading of my holiday novel (Shadow of the wind, still not finish reading though). Weather was not very stable, grey sky most of the time, but this city is always chic and romantic, that something about French, making anything ordinary effortlessly extraordinary.

Norte Dame

I love to walk in to this cathedral whenever I have the chance, I like to observe the color of the rose window on a good sunny day, there were so much color combination that the glass could create. Due to the weather, I didn’t walk into it this time but admire Norte Dame from a distance. It reminds me of the Hunchback of Notre Dame – A novel written by Victor Hugo revived and saved the much abandoned cathedral in Gothic architecture. Hugo spent much time describing the building as well as decrying its abandonment after the abuse it suffered during the French Revolution.

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel is definitely a recognizable icon for Paris, France. The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.

Arch de Triumph

Finally the famous Arch de Triumph that stands in the centre of the he Place de l'Étoile (Star Square). It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon I at the peak of his fortunes.

Jardine du Tulleries and Louvre

After a brief stroll at Jardin du Tulleries, I didn’t go in to the Louvre but I took my time strolling around place Vendome in search for my secret scents.

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A Quick tour of Belgium

12th March 2008

Today we started our tour with the Chinese tour operator in the Netherlands. The weather was really bad, raining and strong wind. Our first stop was Atomium, somewhere outskirt of Brussels. It was one of the original ideas for Expo '58 was to build an upside-down version of the Eiffel tower; however, Waterkeyn felt that an atomic structure would be more symbolic of the era. The monument was originally planned to remain standing only six months. However, it soon became a symbol not only of the World's Fair, but of modern architecture and Brussels. The monument stayed the same for almost 50 years.

Manneken Pis

I have lost count of the number of time I been to Brussels and visiting this little boy peeing at the corner of the street. Since it is part of the tour itinerary, we stopped by Brussels and of course pay a quick visit to this little boy. He was in his winter suit today due to the extremely cold and windy weather of the day.

Waterloo

After that, the tour took us to Waterloo. Waterloo's claim to fame is the famous Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1815) between the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Alliance of the Seventh Coalition (the United Kingdom, Prussia, Austria and others. There is a memorial in the form of a statue of a lion (looking towards France on a hill with 226 stairs called La Butte du Lion.

This is my second visit; the first time was when Johannes and I took Vicky, Charles and Aumun to this place in a lovely May Spring weather. Due to the bad weather, no one actually wanted to go up to the top.

Beilstein – A village where the time has stopped

9^th March 2008

A very small village/county at the right bank of Moselle (www.beilstein-mosel.de), a pint-size village right out from the world of fairy tales. Little more than a cluster of houses surrounded by steep vineyards, its romantic, half-timbered town scape is enhanced by the ruined castle Burg Metternich, a hill-top castle reached by staircase.

It was very quiet when we arrived, so quiet that as if the time has stopped, that created a lot more mystical atmosphere to the village as we marched up the steps to the ruined castle. Despite of it small size, it has the wine of its one. I could imagine the place would be over flooded with tourists on the week preceding Easter holiday and that the quietness and the mystical feel would be gone by then.

Am glad to be here on a quiet afternoon and have the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the quietness and listen to the very still voice of the nature…

Trier - The oldest city in Germany

I have heard enough about Trier, being the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere settlement or army camp. It was founded by the Romans Augusta Treverorum in 15 BC and hence becoming capital of the Western Roman Empire by 3^rd AD.

Then comes the Porta Nigra and I am finally here to see it for myself. Porta Nigra being the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps and a Unesco World Heritage site. The black gate is a brooding 2^nd century city gate that has been blackened by time. A marvel of engineering and ingenuity, it’s held together by nothing but gravity and iron rods.

Frankly speaking, Trier didn’t impress me as if Cochem, despite of the well know history and the importance of the Porta Nigra, I didn’t really like the black structure that much..., it is so black that as if it was burnt severely before….

A wall that tells the story

When we arrived Cochem, we parked our car just in front of a building with this beautiful wall. This wall caught my attention, it is simply more than a wall but a master piece of art or rather an arrangement of tiles and ceramic display that portrait some stories that I am yet to find out at the time of writing. The wall depicts some forms of the history of the town and Romans history.

Cochem - A beautiful township along Moselle River

8th March 2008

My friends and colleagues have been recommending Cochem to me, now I finally got the change to visit this charming and picturesque village with plenty of narrow alleyways and half-timbered houses.

As soon as we approached the town, Reichsburg castle towering above steep vineyards, welcomed us. This is the city owned castle www.reichsburg-cochem.de – everyone idealized version of a turreted medieval castle is actually a neo-Gothic pastiche built in 1877.

The walk up from town takes about 15 minutes, along the way we were accompanied by plenty of wine taverns selling the local wines and further up the way we were greeted by plenty of vineyard awaiting to take its first branch and green leave breakthrough once the warmth of the spring hit the area. The view of the Moselle River and the vineyard along the river bank is magnificent and wonderfully lay out with in a neat way.

The partial sunny and cloudy weather revealed even more facets of the landscapes with the suddenly shade of grey and sunny sky. I must say, just my eyes alone are not sufficient to capture the beauty of this valley, let alone the digital camera. If only I wish, with the time and the right painting skill, I would love to capture the scenery with water color painting.

Sometime it is really good to be away from the big cities and the heftiness of daily life and visit a small village like Cochem. Just take time to enjoy the view, stroll along the river bank, wine tasting and enjoy the natural abundance that it could offer.

Easter Sunday Lunch

22nd March 2008

Although it snowed over the Easter weekend but the weather has not spoiled our Sunday Lunch. Johannes and I together made the following:

Crème soup with basil

Flan Bourguignon

Apple Crumble

Green salad

My sisters surprised us with an Easter gift which is a pig display that added well to my piggy’s collection.

Later in the afternoon, we attended the Sunday service together. The speaker reminded us about this special 'Sunday' and 'Resurrection' of Christ and a personal prophetic words that is very special to me. May we all have breakthroughs over our circumstances by the special power of resurrection of Jesus Christ.