emmasen 066

29Oct08

1) Visited a 'buddy-school' today to learn more about the education system in The Netherlands. The school is in a village called Alphen, about 40mins by bus. It was a foggy and cold morning. Temperature? Minus-2 degrees! The primary school has pupils with disabilities included into mainstream schooling. Today, to encourage parents and pupils not to skip breakfast before attending school (at 8:45am), the government allocated breakfast food to all schools in The Netherlands - it's on the teacher's desk PC screen (and shown to the children via an interactive e-whiteboard.

2) After coming back, I had a nice Subway turkey ham sandwich (E$3.60)

emmasen 065

28Oct08

1) Swati, the visiting academic, wore a sari, today being Deepavali. She cooked some mashed potatoes with onions and I had some, yumm, like the potato filling in massala thosai. The embroidery on the entire length of her sari is hand stitched (I looked on the reverse and although it evidenced individual hand sewn stitches, yet it was so neatly done so that there are no unsightly criss crossing of threads and knots!) It is expensive.

This type of embroidery is called "kantha" and originates from the cloth that newborn babies in India are placed on. Usually the grandmother of the child will lovingly embroider a lovely piece of cloth, with beautiful designs and even with well wishes - so that it is like a token of blessing for the child, and when family members and relatives come to see the baby, they will also see how beautifully framed the child is, lying on the intricate embroidery. This art is now taught to village womenfolk as a cottage industry for them to earn wages and escape poverty. She also has a cashmere shawl and drawstring purse with kantha embroidery.

2) Don't ask me why, but I suddenly noticed how fine the workmanship of tiles is here in The Netherlands. Just take a look at this close-up.

3) I'm posing before a large map of the town of Tilburg just outside the library.

emmasen 064

27Oct08

1) Cold day. Filled hot green tea in my Thermos and had it during class (hoped it's okay to do that!). Mother had wanted to buy me something when I first left home for further studies in 1996 at Monash U, Melbourne. I said I wanted a good vacuum flask. We went to Isetan Scotts and she got the best brand, a genuine Thermos. Can't really recall the price, but it was indicative of the brand being the best in town! That was in late 1995. Today, in 2008 - it is still hot! Thank ABBA for Mother's gift!

2) Commercial-Christmas is declaring her arrival with glittery things on the retail shelves. I thank ABBA that JESUS, the Reason-for-the-season, has "aredi and alwis" arrived in my heart! (I can't help but try on the velvety soft santerina cap)

emmasen 063

26Oct08

- I left my cabbage soup on the fire and completely forgot about it!!! Moreover, I left it on at full fire! By ABBA's Grace - truly, praise JESUS! - I decided not to sleep although it was already 12:30pm. The HOLY SPIRIT prompted me to go to New Creation Church website to watch Pastor Joseph Prince's video sermon: Nuggets of Blessings from the Feeding of The Five Thousand (John 6, although this is the only miracle by JESUS that appeared in all the four Gospels).

- If I had gone to sleep, the damage not only to the pot, stove, kitchen and possibly the flat could have been unimaginable! Midway through the sermon, I smelt something suspicious and shot into the kitchen to turn off the fire. Thank ABBA! Several minutes later, after letting the pot cool and having removed the charred cabbage - I added boiling water with some salt added and brought it to the boil.

- A friend taught me this, saying that by boiling the charred remains stuck onto the pot, it will help dislodge it from the surface. Then I left it to stand overnight, thinking whether I could salvage the pot tomorrow. My journalistic duty failed me and I forgot to take a photo of the angry pot. The photo above is a re-constructed one :P

- The next morning, which is this morning, I gave the pot a good scrub with salt and vinegar - and hallelujah! ABBA saved my pot! Not forgetting that last night, He saved the stove, He saved the kitchen, He saved my flat, He saved me and my flatmates! JESUS - His Name means JEHOVAH saves - truly He saves.

- On this note - I'm sure you have already read the joke about this. Briefly - satan was constantly bickering at JESUS. GOD finally set a administrative task to decide who would win. Whether satan or JESUS wins, satan'll have to stop the bickering. So, both of them began to work furiously. Whilst satan proceeded at hellish speed, JESUS worked at a divine velocity. They hammered away at their PCs, they faxed, they emailed, they created powerpoints, they developed spreadsheets.

- Then suddenly, a lightning bolt struck and both their PCs went dead. IT Support was called in and restored the system. However, satan's monitor remained blank whilst JESUS' monitor blinked into life. Full of fury, satan accused GOD and the IT Support of secretly resurrecting JESUS' files and data. GOD simply shrugged His shoulders, and said, "JESUS saves."

- One of our coursemate from India made a dessert "halva" and gave some to Tracy and I to try. It is to celebrate Deepavali, which will fall on tomorrow.

emmasen 062

25Oct08

- The Bicycle Lanes in The Netherlands are paved with red pigmented tar to let cyclists and drivers know each others' rights. At some road crossings, the Bicycle Lane will cut across the regular road, signifying the necessity of cars to allow cyclists the right of way. At crossings in which the red lane stops, cyclists have to halt to look out for cars. Motorized scooters and wheelchairs also use Bicycle Lanes, hence cyclists have to listen for a motorized personal vehicle coming from behind and give way. By the way, cars drive on the right side of a two-lane road, and the driver's seat is on the left side of the car! Once - when given a lift by a lecturer, I wanted to be the driver by mistakenly opening the front left door! Also, when crossing a road, I have to learn to look to my left - that is where the traffic comes from, then at the central divider, I have to look right! Learning and re-learning required some time to get used to!

- Today is Saturday. Having handed in my first assignment - praise ABBA! - I went to Bruna, a very nice bookshop chain to shop for stationery. I also shopped at Wibra and got a pair of pants on promotion for E$2! By ABBA's grace, I can wear the the largest size of teeshirts from the Children-Girls' rack! Moreover, I wear only the 3rd largest size of the Children-Girls' section. The largest size is 170, then 164. I am only wearing the 158-size. And good news - Children's clothes are more than half the price of adults' clothes! And Wibra's sales section have clothes that go for only E$2 to 3/-.

- In the evening, I bought two huge bags of aubergines and tomatoes for only E$1 each at the open market. This is the final-half-hour price - when stallholders pack quantities of vege and fruit at promotional prices before they close for the day. The time is usually 4:30pm.

- A group of us went to Central for dinner at Tony's Wok, my favourite Chinese wok-stirfry eatery! I will always chat with the owners (also the chefs) and the service staff whether they are from China or local. We will ask each other questions about life in The Netherlands. Owner Lai is always pleased when I come with a group of friends! Tonight we had 7 of us altogether. In fact he was so pleased that he gave us 4 servings of complimentary side dishes! - yummy fried wanton with chicken and prawn filling, and fried spring rolls. I thanked him profusely! ABBA provides acquaintances and friends wherever we go. The Chinese has a saying: "Make the four seas your friend", denoting one endeavouring to establish friendships during one's travels. I forgot to take a photo of us at Tony's Wok. Later we went to Hoegaarden for coffee, tea and desserts. Then we cycled home. I used my front and back bike lights for the first time. Dutch cyclists are generally responsible, and use lights when they cycle at night.

emmasen 061

24Oct08

2 PhD students organized a concept mapping activity for us to help us articulate our research plan in a more systematic, visual way.

emmasen 060

23Oct08

Decided to buy plastic containers to refrigerate food so that I don't have to cook every evening. I will henceforth cook a large pot of 'chuck-it-all-in' soup and it will serve me for 3 dinners. I learnt the 'chuck-it-all-in' soup way back in 1996 when I was studying in Monash. It is highly recommended for boarding students as it not only provides a balanced nutrition, it is simple, quick yet delicious. As the name implies, you put in food that represents carbohydrates, protein and vegetables, and cook a soup or a stew.

emmasen 059

22Oct08

During a session today to learn more about the Dutch education system (mainstream, special, and inclusion), we met a Principal (aka School Director, or in UK, Head Teacher) of a private primary school that also has pupils with special needs; and a teacher who specializes in teaching gymnastics and physical education. As part of an assignment, we will visit the primary school to gather data and observe a typical day in how inclusion is carried out.

emmasen 058

21Oct08

- One lecturer mentioned that in autumn, one can see relatively more cobwebs. Saw one today. But don't know why relatively more cobwebs appear in autumn.

- A visiting academic is now residing in the 3rd room in our flat - so now we have 3. She is a PhD holder and has applied for a 3-month engagement with the university, where she will give lectures and complete some projects. She'll stay till 7Nov. In the photo, she is sitting in the centre.

emmasen 057

20Oct08

Autumn has already arrived and she is like a bride, wearing a long, rustling and magnificent train, except that it is at times a pale canary yellow, and other times, a dusky orange or a muted red; nevertheless just as gorgeous.

emmasen 056

19Oct08

Sunday.

Sarita made some Indian dessert, called 'kisch' for me to try.

I happened to make some green bean soup and shared with her too.

Tracy and I do the vacuuming and mopping every weekend.

emmasen 055

18Oct08

Saturday - a group of 5 of us visited the capital of Belgium, Brussels, travelling by bus from Tilburg to Turnhout, then to Antwerpen (Belgium), then by train to Brussels Central.

- Cheese omelette lunch with tea at a touristy cafe in Brussels Central cost E$10, equivalent to S$20!

- A big square called The Grand Place, Grote Market is bordered by magnificent old buildings, thronging with tourists, cafes and bazaar.

- The Atomium - a futuristic building of globes and tunnel-escalators built in 1958 for the 1958 International Exposition. Even Elizabeth Taylor visited it.

- The Military Museum.

- A commercial being shot at the museum using an old Russian flag.

- A car show.

- The impressive European Parliament buildings set in Luxembourg Square.

- The Grand Palace of previous kings.

- The Manneken Piss - the Mannequin Boy who pisses. I discovered it's all only a hype. Tourists rub shoulders to have photos taken infront of the boy. It is but only a small bronze statue affixed with a water hose.