I'm Back!!!

Free from school, free from work... so I think that I can be back again to blogging. It was almost two years since the last that I was active on my blog. Now, I can say that I'm back. Because of my busyness and I had to concentrate more on my studies, I spent not so much time on my blog and I missed to share all my experience especially our travel moments. 

SL at Wok de Mallejan

Big smile on our faces and full stomach - That's what I could describe the gathering yesterday at Wok de mallejan with my Samenleven Family. Few weeks ago we were invited by Ate Lana via Facebook and it would be KKB (Kanya-kanyang bayad), meaning 'pay your own meal'. First we were not sure if we were going to attend it because Dennis was unsure if he was going to work on the same day. But later we decided to go and I had a craving for dumplings.

 Wok de Mallejan is a Chinese restaurant in Maarssen. They offer different Chinese and Japanese dishes but they are more popular on wokken.  For the wok, Wok Mallejan offers an extensive choice of many kinds of vegetables, meat and fish. You make your choice and their chefs make it ready for you. At the Dim sum buffet you will find the different snacks available in steam baskets. At the wok area, you will find also Teppanyaki. For example, you can choose from Teppanyaki steak, lamb, and salmon.

 The lovers of Japanese cuisine can also indulge in the Sushi Buffet. There is also a hot and cold buffet. Soup and other appetizers are included. They serve also a fondue. Small or big group, adults or children... this restaurant is for everybody and for sure you will enjoy your food trip here. :)

Wokken

Efteling: a world that full of wonders!

During summer you would find the supermarkets that give away promos and discounts for some famous attraction parks. If you buy goods worth of €5-10, then you will receive a stamp that you can collect until 5-10 pcs. and change it into a discount coupon. Luckily, we got two discount coupons for the Efteling and planned it  as the same time when we visited my other family in Vlissingen.

Efteling is the largest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest theme parks in the world. It was officially opened on May 31, 1952 and located in the town of Kaatsheuvel. Until now, the park has received over 100 million visitors. It's a fantasy land that full of different characters and fairy tales which brought to me a full of happiness and enjoyment. This park is not only for the children. Young and old people can enjoy the park. Dennis and I enjoyed a lot in this park. It looks like that we came back in our teenage life. 

Efteling has a lot of attractions, shows and events. Here are some of the attractions that we tried and enjoyed:

De Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman)

De Indische Waterlilies

Sprookjesboom (Fairy Tree)

Carnaval Festival

Vogel Rok (Bird Rok)

Polka Marina

Halve Maen

Pirana

Pirana

Dennis is reading the map of Efteling

Langnek van De Zes Dienaren

Aquana

ROYGBV colors for Amsterdam Gay Pride

Last Saturday, we went in Amsterdam to join the annual gay festival that held in the first weekend of August. The main event of this festival was the Canal Parade. I was very enthusiastic to be there  because this year was my first time to witness  it. I've already put on my agenda one month ago, just to make sure that I would not miss this event.

Everyone came out for the Gay Pride. When we were on the way to Amsterdam with a train and tram, I saw a lot of gay rights supporters who were wearing pink shirts, pink hats or pink sunglasses. The city's annual boat float parade begun at 2 oçlock in the afternoon from Westerdok. Eighty festive boats navigate from Westerdok through Prinsengracht to the Amstel. The parade highlighted the global struggle for LGBT rights and acceptance.

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) people have more freedom here in The Netherlands. Same sex Marriage, Homosexual acts legal, anti-discrimination, right to change legal gender, adoption by same-sex couples, allowed to serve in the military: these are some rights of the homosexuals that implemented here in Holland. Thus, they have this annual event to express that they are really proud of who they are and show it. 

Gay Flag

Rainbow colors for LGBT

''We Are" Pride Slogan

Pink Viewers

Turks Boat - firts timers to participate the parade

LGBT Supporters "We stand with you"

Mr. B

Participants from Gemeente Amsterdam

Humanitas - Rotterdam

Swinger means people active in the sexual swinging lifestyle

BI MINDED slogan

Fund raise for the AIDS Research (Onderzoek)

Be Proud to be Lesbian

"To Be or Not To Be"

No For Anti-Homo Law

50+ Participants

Orange Dag for the Dutch Football Team

Aside from Queen's Day (Koningendag), you could also see most of the Dutch people wearing orange clothes or orange crazy things every time the Dutch football team was going  to play. They did that to show their support for their lovable team who reached the world Cup final against Spain last 2010. Dutch people were really optimistic that the team would dazzle the world once more with their power in football at Euro 2012.

 The Euro 2012 held last June 8 to July 1, 2012 that organized by UEFA. Sixteen nations made it to the final tournament being held in Poland and the Ukraine with the final match to be played on July 1 at the Olympic Stadium. It opened with a 1–1 draw between Poland and Greece and The Netherlands played for their first game on the next day against Denmark. But unfortunately, Denmark defeated the Netherlands in Group B with a score of  0-1. Dutch fans felt disappointed with the game but still, they were not stopping to support the Dutch team for their plays. Once again, Spain made to final match and defended their title with a 4–0 over Italy.

My Orange Dutch Costume

Parasailing

After an enjoyable BBQ party last year, we ( with Dennis' colleagues and their wives) decided to have another one this year . But this time around, his big boss was the one who handled the party. It was hold today in the vacation house of his big boss in Strand Horst, Elmelo. I was excited to go because I heard that aside from cooking and eating barbeque, we would going to do 'parasailing'.

It was my first time to do parasailing and we were lucky to have nice weather today. It is an exciting and enjoyable activity where a person is towed behind a boat while attached to a parachute, known as a parasail wing. Firstly, I was so excited but  nervous to do it because you will fly almost 100 meters. I couldn't explain my feeling when I was starting to fly. I felt relax but scared also maybe because of the height. But I tried to enjoy the scenery and it seemed that you were a bird flying in the sky. It was fantastic experience that I would never forget in  my whole life. To add more information, we used the service of Parsailing Nederland. 

 

BEAUTIFUL SCENERIES IN ELMELO (captured by myself)

Philippine Independence Day 2012 in The Netherlands

Independence Day or Araw ng Kalayaan in Filipino is an annual national holiday in the Philippines dated on 12 June. It commemorates the Philippine Declaration of Independence from Spain on 12 June 1898. Here in the Netherlands, there is a big group of Filipinos named Kalayaan Fiesta Foundation in The Netherlands (KFFN) who's still holding the celebration and leading the event for the purpose of uplifting the Filipino Community in The Netherlands or other related activities that can foster friendship and closer relations among Dutch and Filipino communities. It promotes also Filipino cultural heritage, and eventually provide affordable financial assistance to the less fortunate “Kababayan” (compatriots) in the Philippines or to duly recognized charitable institutions in the Philippines. The event this year was hold today, 2 June at Spaarnwoude Halfweg Haarlem. There  was an entrance fee that costed  €4,- per person and parking fee for  €6 per vehicle that would be collected to support, the Kalinga, one of the Filipino foundations who helped the Filipino street children.

The celebration was started with the Flag ceremony and followed by a parade. There was also a variety show that presented by some of my co-Filipinos. There were also a number of stalls displaying various Philippine products. For the foodies, they enjoyed the smell and taste of “talagang tunay na Pinoy BBQ” and other pinoy foods, while the shopaholics were delighted with both local and imported goods such as classy bags, shoes clothes, handy-crafts and different kinds of Filipino household goods. 

My Samenleven group was also joined the Independence Day Picnic which they stood a tent for all the members and also for other Filipinos. They brought different kinds of foods and ate together. Of Course! I was also there together with Dennis and his father. It was our first time to attend this event and we were curious how it would be and also, to meet the other Filipinos. For me, I wanted to buy some Filipino foods that I've really missed it to eat. But at the end of the day, I didn't buy anything. Why? Because there were many stalls selling Filipino products and I wanted to check all. Until I got tired looking of things to buy and decided to go back in our tent. We went home  tired but with sweet smiles on our faces and full stomachs.

Vis à Vis speelt HaRT

Pentecost (Pinksteren), Whit Sunday or known in Dutch as Eerste Pinksterdag, is an important Christian Holiday in The Netherlands. It is is seven weeks after Easter Sunday which commemorates the Holy Spirit's descent from heaven onto Jesus' followers. It is generally a normal spring Sunday and a popular time for outdoor music festivals, short breaks and longer vacations.  

This long vacation is also time to relax and to do some recreational activities. For us, we were invited by our Suriname neighbour to join on his 55th birthday celebration. But on the same day, father of Dennis was also invited us to watch a theatrical show here in Almere. Thus, we decided to stay at the party for only 2 hours and went directly to the show. The show was free for all the volunteers here in Almere and Dennis' father was one of the volunteers. He got four free tickets for the show and gave it to me, Dennis and a close friend of him.

The theatrical show was played by a group, Vis à Vis and the title of the show was 'Hart'. It was a dramatic and comedy love story in a bizarre outdoor environment. They used ingenious style for their equipments and props. Mostly in the theatre, you would find some luxurious paraphernalia but  Vis a Vis used things that you could find in the garbage can. The setting of the show was an afvalscheidingsstation/waste separation station where people brought their trash there and separate the components of the waste based on their materials. The acting of the characters and the effects were really amazing and also the sophisticated musical arrangements that make up the evening a real cinematic experience. I had fun watching it! Even there were some parts of it that I didn't understand because my Dutch was not yet enough. But still, thanks for Dennis for translating it for me and the act that helped me to understand the whole picture of the story. This was also my first Dutch Theatrical show and I would never forget this spectacular show.