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.