Chinese oddness

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Chinese oddness

Last weekend, a three-day festival took place in a street in Rotterdam: China Festival. A whole street of merchants, a small art gallery and a few performances were held.

Aside from some typical Chinese merchandise, like little statues, clothing, artwork and books about China, there were also stands with people selling Indonesian cakes, Vietnamese spring rolls and lots of bras.

I hope the locals won’t generalize the Chinese as bra-selling people now.

A dizzy adventure
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A dizzy adventure

I felt a little bit sick and dizzy after this ride. But I did take a few pictures while on it. It felt a bit weird going to an introduction week again, but it was fun. The first day we spent time roaming around the faculty building, the next in Amsterdam–where the rain poured.

Sailing on Wednesday was interesting. The wind was doing weird, so our boat kinda got stuck. So instead, we took a motorboat instead. This picture was taken on the last day, at the Duinrell amusement park.

Where I stayed away from the roller coasters.

Michelle: Yes, being a bit sick is what I payed for this awesome picture! Dice: I guess I’m crazy like that. Tiffany: I was indeed debating with myself whether to bring my camera or not. But I figured the risk wasn’t too high. I didn’t take it with me on all the rides, though. ping: Thanks, I feel very brave. Aileen: Fun and dizzying. Bella: Hah, my mission is accomplished.

Weathers
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Weathers

An Indonesian sunset, as taken in Kuta, Bali, Indonesia a month ago. Different regions in the world have different climates. So traveling, you will mainly notice the difference in temperature. When you prepare for a trip, you try to bring appropriate clothing: thick, warm clothes when you’re going somewhere cold, and light, thin clothes when you’re going somewhere warm.

Other than temperature, I always notice the clouds. When I’m at home, here in the Netherlands, I always see certain type of clouds (I don’t know how they’re called, I just note the shape). But when I’m in a different country, I often see different kind of clouds.

And clouds are especially interesting when you’re flying an airplane. You see the clouds from above, at the same height, or you’re flying even in the clouds.

Clouds are also what make sunsets amazing. The change of colors –yellow, orange, red, purple– in combination with the sky and clouds –blue, grey, white– turn the sky into an amazing painting. Moving each minute into the next beautiful view.

Yes, sunsets are beautiful. I don’t know about sunrises, though.

Those are too early.

marc: Yeah, mornings are usually cold. Although in the summer and in the warm parts of Asia it can be convenient. Tiffany: Thanks! Jen Jen: Yep, Jimbaran was one of the spots we ate. Yum. Ikan. Michelle: Take pictures next time, there’s always a next time, right? Carolyn: Yeah, sunsets/sunrises on airplanes are awesome. Andi: Very well said Dice: Ooh, a new commenter. Welcome . ZhiWen: Heh, ik had deze post dus ook in 1 woordje kunnen samenvatten irene: Yep, I was a pure tourist, myself. Diana: Yeah, it’s always nice to take time for the simple yet breathtaking things of nature…

Change of Life
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Change of Life

For some reason Garuda Indonesia is stopping flying between Amsterdam and Jakarta. Too bad. So I guess I’m lucky I caught one of the last flights a month ago.

Change of Life

Could you change your life radically? Like the way you are, the way you do things? Like how you are or who you are? Like changing yourself into another self, changing identity or personality?

Just like how my family told me I should change?

Hmm, who should I try to imitate today?

Bali
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Bali

I’ll entertain you now with this picture from a traditional Balinese dance. So yes, I took this picture in Bali, Indonesia, exactly a month ago.

Michelle Bella. echa: Scared, why? But not the dancers, right? hehe. Diana: Yeah, Balinese dancers “dance” with their eyes as well as their hands. I like it, because it’s very unique. And I love culture like this.

Charming
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Charming

Look at this charming statue.

I saw the opening of the olympics on television yesterday. It looked awesome. The history part was portrayed so artistically. The water, all the objects and people in the air. Especially with all the people in the colorful costumes.

Intesting with the country names: I think, officially Taiwan is called Republic of China, while China is called the People’s Republic of China. However, yesterday, they were announced as Chinese Taipei. What’s up with that?

Also interesting to know is that during the opening, they told that Indonesia was the only country which didn’t buy the rights to show the olympics live on television. Too expensive. And yes, it’s a lot of money. Especially even for the opening itself, because that was 3 hours long, without any breaks. Without any breaks, there’s no time for commercials.

Roseline: Exactly. That was anothing thing I wanted to write about, but forgot when I was actually writing this entry. Korea presented as one, and holding the flag as one… so beautiful. Jen jen: Haha. Sleep. Good. Jean: Yeah, I thought the same thing. And yes, the statue is interesting, haha. Tiffany: Chanel is a really brilliant musician! If I’d own a record label, I’d definitely offer her a record deal right away. Diana: It’s weird because Indonesia has everything: all the western companies selling fries and BigMacs and coffee. And Idol on tv and other imported channels like MTV. But no olympics.

PS: If you’re watching Australian Idol… Chanel Cole is brilliant!

Where water meets land
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Where water meets land

This picture is one of the many pictures I took on my trip in Indonesia. The coast of Tanah Lot. I do have pictures of the temple on the rock itself, but maybe I’ll show those later.

Here in the Netherlands, after a short heatwave (”5 days of at least 25°C which of 3 are at least 30°C” — I’m sure this definition isn’t universal) it’s getting colder again. And raining. Lots of it.

With my enjoyous visit to Indonesia already over, I still get a little bit jealous of the people who I see online. Some are still in on vacation in Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, The United States, Canada… I love traveling. But the only country that I really really want to visit and haven’t visited before is Japan.

When I was in Indonesia, I learned that a lot of people have an urge to visit the West. North America, Europe. As I was born here, however with roots in Asia, I love to visit the Far East. Japan is on the top of my list, then comes Guilin, China (famous for the scenery, mountains in water shrouded by fog). I wouldn’t mind visiting Singapore, Malaysia, South-Korea either. I visited China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and I’d go back if I could.

But first, lots of school, classes, exams and everything are waiting for me this year/these coming years.

Hidden treasures
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Hidden treasures

The last month or so, I read these books:
Dan Brown – Deception Point
Dan Brown – Digital Fortress
Robin Cook – Brain
Robin Cook – Outbreak
Robin Cook – Shock
Michael Crichton – Timeline
Mineko Iwasaki – Geisha of Gion

I’m currently reading Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. After this one, I read all his 4 books, hehe. They’re all page-turners, I guess because the way he writes them.

I recently also saw the Timeline movie, based on Michael Crichton’s book. Well, the movie sucked really bad. They changed everything! A few characters were changed to male, the technique and everything about the “time traveling” was changed for the worse, including some stuff that could help the plot, the time, the pace, the story…

I never really read a biography, but Geisha of Gion was very interesting. Before, I expected biographies to be boring. But this one gripped me. The Japanese setting is so intruiging. The culture, clothing, customs, all so amazing. And the story, everytime there was happiness, you would just smile yourself when reading it. Or your eyes would just get watery if something sad would happen.

Bella: I haven’t read Memoir of a Geisha, so I don’t know if it’s similar. Aileen: I’m done reading it and I liked reading it . jen jen: Just take pictures with what you have and capture your moments! Devin: Well, everyone has their own preferences, so maybe you won’t like it at all. Story and/or writing. Diana: Yeah, this particular movie shouldn’t even have been called Timeline.

Looking up
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Looking up

Here’s a small list of words of which you can see the influence of Dutch and Indonesian on each other. Indonesian mostly had an influence on Dutch words concerning food. These are not specialized words either — every Dutch person uses these words and know what they mean.

I chose these words, because they are significantly different from the English translation. Easy words are: boek, buku, book; lamp, lampu, lamp; universiteit, universitas, university; kwaliteit, kwalitas, quality. There are also words like Toko, which means “Chinese or Indonesian (food) shop/store” in Dutch, but just means “shop/store” in Indonesian. Pretty interesting stuff, eh?

Keren: Ah, so at least I’ll be able to order some food if I go visit you jen jen: Indonesian has a lot in common with many languages, hehe. But yeah, those are interesting too. irene: Oh yeah, I forgot those words. Thanks Diana: Oh, I didn’t know that one yet. I guess I learned another word, hehe. Nana: Hmm, Sometimes I saw bakso and bakmi, and sometimes baso and bami. Same for loempia, loenpia, lumpia, lunpia. My dictionary said filem, but I corrected it with film now, I guess

The creatures of the East
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The creatures of the East

This is one of the monkeys we spotted in one of the monkey places. Later, we also saw monkeys running around freely along the side of the road, in the mountains.

Other wild animals, or bugs, we saw were cicak (lizards). We didn’t see any tekok though. Lovely how kecoak (cockroaches) roam in the kamar mandi (bathroom). There are also way more nyamuk (mosquitos) in Indonesia. I used so much Autan, hehe.

More differences: We have no uniforms in elementary school (basisschool, SD) or high school (middelbare school, SMP/SMA). I don’t think any school here has uniforms here.

Store in the Netherlands generally close at 18:00, except on Thursday or Friday (depends on the city) at 21:00, Saturday at 17:00. Only the bigger stores in the big cities are open on Sundays. We don’t have as much street vendors (kaki lima ).

But we do have sambal. Kerupuk. Indo mie. Lumpia (spring rolls, loempia).

digits: Inderdaad, voor mij is de beleving anders omdat ik in Nederland geboren ben… jen jen: What a tiny brother you have. Michelle: Well, I’m sure I did take many pictures of your brother while we were there. Keren: Thanks! Bella: Sure you can get rendang here. Kecap manis as well. We don’t have everything here, but we do have a lot.