Moving Day!

Moving Day was on the 31st of May. The day where packers came and boxed up the last 3 years of our lives in The Netherlands into multi-sized carton boxes, packed into a 20-foot container and shipped off across the ocean to Singapore.

The packers brought a whole load of cartons and tape and tape and arrived before 8am. Talk about an early start. I could barely keep my eyes open...

And then they just went right into it! Folding boxes, wrapping our stuff, packing them in and sealing it shut. And all the labelling... Living, Kitchen, Bedroom, Fragile, Electronics, etc etc.. Watching all our stuff being methodically wrapped, packed and labelled was strangely surreal and nostalgic. The fact was dawning loud and clear.. WE ARE REALLY MOVING!! *panics*

A 20-footer Backing Up Into Our Little Lane

 

Then a 20-foot container was driven into the lane where we lived and our many boxes were hoarded into it. It was a truly reminiscent experience of us moving to The Netherlands 3 years ago, when again, we watched the movers in Malaysia packing our items into a container that was to be shipped to Europe. After everything was done and the container was locked, while we waited to sign off on the shipping documents. I felt a sudden rush of relief... I suppose it was due to the fact that I was in hyperdrive for the last two weeks and was doing frenzied dusting and cleaning of our accumulated possessions in the past 3 years.

And now, we are freshly checked into a long-stay apartment in a hotel and going through the motions of everyday life, before we really have to say goodbye to our life and friends here in less than 3 weeks...

Talk about being on an emotional roller coaster... 

Making A Move

Some time last year, Jim and I received work of a possible future assignment posting for him in Singapore in 2013. Whilst in the back of my mind, I've been very much aware of it... the reality of it never really sank in. Until now. 

It seemed like just not that long ago that he and I made the decision to move here to the Netherlands for a change of environment. Yes, KL-PJ was sucking the soul out of us (or maybe just me, I don't know). And although the move here was fraught with a mix of both excitement and fear, our journey through it all, albeit harrowing, allowed us to emerge stronger and more appreciative of life, love and each other. 

Looking back the three years (almost!) that we've been here, it has made me see that the world is so big, and it is filled with endless opportunities and boundless possibilities. If we could just disentangle ourselves from the negative experiences, we'd be able to see and appreciate so much more. Of course there would be bad experiences, otherwise it isn't life, right? :) 

On a Tulip trail

Life here isn't free from complaints. Far from it! Haha... Maybe I'm a serial-complainer, I don't know. But what I do know is that the good outweighs the bad. We've never really made the decision if we would grow our roots in the Netherlands, as we were still getting used to life here, not to mention the language. And I tell you, that is the biggest barrier for me. The Dutch Language seriously, seriously kills me. To even want to say something in Dutch, I got to crack my brains and ultimately come up with something so wrong that it makes everyone laugh out loud.

Us in Volendam with our Klompens

But before we found out about the assignment to Singapore, we were thinking of making things more permanent. We were thinking about a move to Central Holland (near the city of Utrecht) and to make plans settling there. Just a side note, Leeuwarden's not that bad.. But it can get pretty boring and it's so far away from everything else. What ties me to Leeuwarden the most are the friends that I've made while I was here.

With the Windmill in Kinderdijk

It's just that now, when we are finally settled in The Netherlands (barely!), we are packing again. Even though we've only been here for a short time, and it's also only a 3 year assignment to Singapore, it's ironic how burdened I feel about leaving what I know here. And I can't believe that I find myself looking forward to coming back here again after our 'adventure' in Singapore is over.

I know, I have some ridiculously random photos on this post. But it's just a reminder to myself the good times I've had here :)

 

Not From England

Jimmy and I went for a day out in the centrum today for some shopping and walking around. We were just walking in one of the stores, a departmental store called V&D, when we stopped to browse through some sweaters on a rack.

We didn't notice but there was a lady about 2 feet behind us and I suppose we stopped too abruptly and got in her way. We only realized when she heaved a loud sigh and shoved right past us!

Jimmy was pretty miffed and called out after her, "An 'excuse me' would be nice!". Then she turned around and retorted:

*brace yourself for this*

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"I Am Not From England!"

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Huh?!? Whaaaaa...??? Okay... It's just that I never knew that common courtesy was indigenous to England. I always just assumed that civility was practiced in all cultures. Hmmm... I've met a lot of wonderfully well-mannered and polite Dutch, so I'm don't really know where that lady was coming from...

I am not one who is easily rendered speechless but this one really did a good job of temporarily dumbing me. It took a couple of seconds before the statement really sank in and for me to come up with a few snarky remarks. I didn't manage to use any of them though, because Jimmy was ready to get into it further and I just told him "Don't stoop to that level" and he reluctantly let it go.

It's interesting how complex human nature is... Although unpleasant, it was definitely an eye-opening experience.

The Dutch 'Huisart' System

'Huisart' in Dutch refers to a GP.. Or sometimes, we know them as family doctors. Generally, the group of medical practitioners that you go to when you have health issues, big or small. If it's a big issue, then your 'huisart' will refer you to the hospital for treatment. And these 'huisart's, they only see you if you are subscribed to insurance, so that would indicate that there's a proper system for it.

Medisch Centrum Zwaaij - Photo Courtesy of Google Maps

In Malaysia, when I was feeling under the weather and needed medication, I would drive to the trusty Mediviron Clinic in Paramount PJ. I would show the nurse on duty my medical card (I was insured by my employer so I need not pay) and wait in line to see the doctor on duty. Sure, there were issues when it came to Mediviron Clinic. The line is never ending and I always catch the nurses slipping 'paying' guests in front of me. However quirky the issue was when I visited my GP in Malaysia, it cannot compare to what I've come to experience here in Netherlands.

Jimmy came home from work in a bad state on Thursday evening. I believe he went through some work aggravation, but I digress.. Anyways, he spent all night coughing and keeping us both awake. We got concerned because he has been coughing since 6 weeks ago when he came back from our vacation in Malaysia.

So on Friday morning, he called in sick to work and called to make an appointment with a GP near to where we are staying - the Westerman Huisart. The administrative personnel told him that he has to go back to the huisart that he has been seeing previously, the Boscha Huisart, but Jimmy explained to the administrative personnel/receptionist that he has been trying to make an appointment with Boscha Huisart but keeps getting rejected for because, according to the Boscha Huisart Receptionist, his coughing is not serious enough to warrant an appointment, and he should instead drink more water, sleep more and try some over-the-counter medication. He further explained to the Westerman Huisart Receptionist that he has tried all that and after so many weeks his coughing still persists, but still they denied him appointment with the doctor and he is getting a bit freaked because all the coughing is giving him sleepless nights and he is getting blood in his spit.

The Westerman Huisart Receptionist then told him that it is a lot of work that he is asking to see another GP(wtf?!) but finally relented and gave him an appointment at 2:20pm. So we headed over at 2:10pm but we could not find the location of the Huisart. The GPS brought us to a few different locations in Cambuur but we still could not for the life of us, find the clinic! We tried calling the receptionist again to clarify but got a voice recording saying that it's past working hours.

Then Jimmy went to the Boscha Huisart building to inquire about the Westerman Huisart and found out both practices are sharing the same building, together with about 6 other practices! So we hurried to the Westerman Huisart Reception and explained to her the situation and apologized for our tardiness. The Westerman Receptionist told us that she made an appointment for Jimmy with Boscha Huisart because it would be better that he has a medical record in the same practice. We thanked her and went back to the 1st Floor of the same building to see the Boscha Huisart. The Boscha Huisart receptionist told Jimmy that he does not have an appointment in her records and the doctor is fully booked. She told him to go back to the 2nd Floor to see the Westerman Huisart since he has made an appointment there. So, Jimmy, with his temper mounting, went back up to 2nd Floor to speak to the Westerman Huisart Receptionist again and this time, the receptionist just casually told him that she is busy, it is past his appointment time and he should make another appointment via phone for another day! (mind you, she was reading a book when he approached her)

Woohoo!! Talk about being kicked around like a ball!!! A sick coughing ball at that!

Naturally, my dear husband erupted like a volcano and told the Westerman Receptionist off, aggravating his already aggravated cough. He stormed to the Boscha Huisart Receptionist and told her what happened and she simply told him that the doctor's occupied and she'll have make him an appointment for Monday morning.

If this was a life and death situation, I think the ghost of my dear husband would be tormenting the Westerman Huisart Receptionist as I write this.

But on a serious note, why do the GP's take the health issues of the residents of Netherlands so lightly? I mean, this is a beautifully developed country but the house doctor system is skewed towards Primitive! (please note my emphasis on the P)

I know that the hospitals here have excellent service record but just because it is not what they deem is an emergency, that does not mean that it should be dismissed with the wave of a hand.

It is at times like this, I wish for the Mediviron Clinic.. At least it would be a fruitful wait and the doctor-on-duty would be able to give us peace of mind and tell us straight off whether he has a throat infection and what we can do to make it better.

I heard from Jimmy that his colleague's father has been diagnosed with 4th stage cancer because it was detected late. Apparently he has been to see the Huisarts so many times to treat the symptoms and they keep playing it down and telling him that it's not an emergency and that it will go away. Now, he been told he's only got 3 months left and it is too late for treatment...

It is just so easy to dismiss a person when that person is of no importance to you, but I guess it has never occurred to these Huisarts that these people have families too, and they mean the world to someone else out there...

Update (8th May 2012) : Jimmy's finally seen the doctor at the Boscha Huisart group yesterday and the doctor's confirmed that he indeed, has an inflamed and infected throat, that has been making him feverish, and has been given a strong dose of antibiotics to curb and ease the inflammation. Jeeez...

Snapshots of Leeuwarden

I went cycling with Jimmy (from now on, I'm referring to Chin Aun as Jimmy because it's faster to type.. Haha) on Sunday last week just to make sure that I can still cycle. It's been so long since I last cycled that I was afraid that I would need training wheels again...

And I equipped myself with camera-slash-phone to get some scenic shots of Leeuwarden to post up just in case I move away in a few years and forget how this place looks like..

Here goes:

Houses Against The Clear Blue Skies Along Rietlandroute

The Intersection of Rietlandroute and Prinsentuin

We basked for a little while in the sunlight to get our share of some Vitamin D before heading on our way to take more photographs...

Riding Along Emmakade (and lookie, that is my shadow on the ground)

View of the Centrum from the Bridge of Julianastraat

Then from there, we headed on along Archipelweg and circled the empty parking lot of De Centraale a few times just for fun.. And our next stop, the Doctor Zamenhofpark... where we go to look at ducks.. and pretend that we have breadcrumbs so that they'd waddle near us...

Daffodils in Bloom

Waddle, Ducks, Waddle!!

I love the Doctor Zamenhofpark... It's so serene and scenic.. and if I were a permanent resident of Leeuwarden, I could consider investing in a house or apartment overlooking it.  

Here's another photo of the park taken in Wintertime during dusk when I was on foot... Absolutely breathtaking :)

Aside from the last photo which was cropped, all photos posted here are unedited and taken using my phone on its automatic mode. I'm not much of a photographer but I thought the photos taken were pretty satisfactory (especially for an amateur!). I guess it really makes a difference when the contents of the photos (in this case, this little town of Leeuwarden) are naturally scenic..

My First Snowfall

Even though I've officially moved to The Netherlands near the end of spring in 2010... I've never experienced snow here before. Sure, I've seen hail, albeit the mini version... but never snow because I escaped the winter of 2010 by hauling ass back home where I could bask in the sunlight all-day everyday *woot* (okay, that's a lie because I'm allergic to the sun but I'm saying it because it has a nice ring to it.. I actually went home for 3 months to finalize the wedding banquet preparations)

As I was saying, I stuck around this winter and I didn't regret it :)

On the 29th of January, late in the night, I saw the first snowfall in Netherlands for 2011... It's a grainy picture because I took it from inside the house... and yes, that dark spot in the photo is my silhouette. But I was excited and went in the backyard to see how much snow there was. There was about 1cm of snow on the ground and the snow stopped after half hour.

I was a little disappointed after that because, c'mon, get real.. I stayed home all winter for 1cm of snow?? That's like winning 10 cents in the national lottery! Pffbbtt...

The on the 3rd of February, I woke up 10am to catch a glimpse of white fuzz between the curtains. Intrigued, I dragged myself out of bed and was greeted by a sleek sheet of white covering my backyard! I was ecstatic! I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

I splashed some water on my face, pulled on my jacket over my pajamas, covered my uncombed hair with my hoodie and trooped out my backdoor equipped with my camera.. and in case you were wondering, I didn't want to wander around in my front yard in my pajamas, hence the backdoor.

 An Undisturbed Sheet of White

View of the Outside (from my Living Room)

My fingers felt stiff from the cold but I was too high on adrenaline to notice.. Haha.. The magic of the first snowfall for someone. Yes, I know to people who see it year in and year out, it's nothing. But it's a big deal to me :)

A Digitally Enhanced Shot for that Ethereal Feel

And I made little Snow People in my backyard... and yes, backyard again for the simple reason being that I'm too embarrassed to be seen in public making snowman...

My fingers were so cold, and it made it so difficult for me to put eyes on them so the two little ones are faceless..

It was exhilarating for me and here before I end, some shots of the lovely snow-covered Leeuwarden!

 And finally....

A Happy Face

Travelogue - Arrival (5th Sept 2009)

So.... after much excitement and anticipation, the DAY has finally arrived :) I packed, hopped on the plane, sat in a cramped seat on KLM for 12 hours (with the service of rude stewardesses - remind me never to criticize MAS flight attendants again!) - I touched down at the Schiphol Airport at 5:45am but only finally met Chin Aun at around 7am+ (long wait at the immigration).

Schiphol Airport "Welkom"s Me

Chin Aun has temporarily put up home in Leeuwarden Friesland, so that's about a 1.5hr drive from Schiphol. On the way there, we'd have to pass through the Afsluitdijk - a bridge in the form of a highway that was constructed in the late 1920's to connect Friesland with North Holland that separates the a part of the North Sea into a fresh water lake called the IJsselmeer . So one side of the causeway (the North Sea) is actually higher than the other side! go check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afsluitdijk if you're interested to know more)

On the Afsluitdijk

The Aflsluitdijk Monument Area

Chin Aun has become a little cook and has started preparing meals for himself while he's there so he made breakfast upon arriving back home in Leeuwarden at around 10am :)

The Tired Cook and His Feast

Breakfast consisted of eggs - sunny side up, sausage, sauteed mushrooms and oven-baked brocolli, carrots and cherry mushrooms! *yum*

I'll try to blog more to keep you guys updated on the trip as much as I can :) Will leave for the roadtrip to Amsterdam-Paris-Brussels in 2 days. Thank God for an awesome Internet connection here!!