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6Dec08

Yesterday, 5-Dec, Dutch people celebrated Sintaklaas (Santa Claus). To them, the children I mean, Sintaklaas comes from Spain every year, bringing presents for them, and assisted by his assistants, Zwarte Pete (Black Pete). Christmas is still celebrated on 25Dec, but Sintaklaas on 5Dec. TV programmes, shopping centres, sweets unique to Sintaklaas is all over the place. During a lecture yesterday, two PhD students who are helping us to navigate our dissertation topics, bought these sweets:

- papenoten (small round brown cookies flavoured with spice)

- speculaas (medium size brown cookies flavoured with spice and almond, and at times, the cake form has almond paste)

- sugared gum jellies

- sweets in designs of Sintaklaas (pink one in the picture), Zwarte Pete (orange), presents (pink), bags containing papenoten and other sweets (white) and hearts.

- 'chocolade' in foil designs of a mouse and frog (it's traditional, and nowadays, people does not know the significance of the mouse and frog designs)

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5Dec08

Praise JESUS - for weeks, I've been trying to pen my 2nd assignment. Yesterday morning I prayed as usual, but also thanked ABBA that He will and already has provided wisdom for me in CHRIST JESUS, that He is my Jehovah Jireh. In the afternoon, I believe it was not by coincidence that I read two journal articles that are very helpful. Praise ABBA! And then, in the same evening, when I received my daily e-devotional from New Creation Church - the message is a praiseworthy:

"God Abundantly Supplies All Your Needs"
"Philippians 4:19 - And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Wowww!

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4Dec08

A Christmas window decoration of a house.

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3Dec08

- Next morning at 7am, went out for a walk, took some pix

- The Park Hotel looks hauntingly like the Oberoi Hotel
- Had traditional onion-cheese soup at Pancake Corner
- The uni organized a Canal Cruise - saw lots of boat-houses in Holland's famed canals.
- Guess why so many tourists queue up infront of one house? (it's the Anne Frank house)
- Visited another school in the afternoon and had a discussion session with teacher trainees.

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2Dec08

- 2Day 1Night School Visit in Amsterdam. (Train fare is costly: return = E$33, equivalent to S$70.)

- Stayed in 5-in-room backpack hostel - thank ABBA, still slept very soundly!

- Had salmon tortellini for dinner, yumm

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1Dec08

Have needle & thread will sew.

Natives of Netherlands are statistically the tallest people in the world. So, their pants are lllllong. But no panic there - with a simple needle & some thread, hemming becomes easy.

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30Nov08

Photo taken on 12Sep08, 2 days after we arrived in The Netherlands.