Baby Has So Much To Do

Bali, Pulau Sepa and Bandung

Even though we spend lots of time with the family in Jakarta this year, we did plan in some short trips to Bali, Pulau Sepa (one of the Thousand Islands in the Java Sea off Jakarta) and we will also make a short stop in Bandung where Cherrie used to live before she moved to NL with me. Here are the pictures from our time outside of Jakarta.....

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Jakarta - Dec 2009

It’s been three years since we’ve been the last time to Indonesia. In December 2009 we came to celebrate Olives wedding (Cherries sister) and to spend Christmas and New year with the family in Indonesia. It’s been a wonderful time and Cora, Cherrie and I really loved being back and meeting everyone again. This album contains all the photos taken during our time in Jakarta. A huge thank you for making this such a great time for us goes to the whole family but it particular to Bambang and Sylvia….We will miss you!

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Olive & Pieters wedding

The main reason for us to come to Indonesia this time beside Christmas, New Year and of course the family and friends has been Olive and Pieter’s wedding on 19.12. We thought this would be a huge wedding and it sure was, at least by my European standards. The Church wedding took place in a colonial protestant Church and though I could not understand much of what was said in Church, it was just beautiful to see the ceremony. Many of the guests were wearing traditional outfits and colorful dresses and the weather was just perfect. Cora has been in almost every picture and really enjoyed herself and all the attention. The evening party was themed Batavia (Jakarta’s name during colonial times) and the 1920ies. Some 1100 people came to celebrate with the newly wed’s. It was one impressive wedding to remember and certainly the biggest one I ever attended. Olive dan Pieter, Selamat Menempuh Hidup Baru.

Here are the pictures

Autumn 2009 in Berlin

After a pretty busy summer at work with no option to take time off, I finally got to be out for a 10 day break. I wanted to go to Berlin with Cora to see my sisters new house and her little boy, visit my parents and just spend some quality family time with Cora. October 3rd is also a National holiday in Germany where the German reunification is celebrated each year. It’s a special day for me to go to Berlin  this years since it’s been 20 years exactly that my life changed drastically forever when the Berlin wall was opened over night bringing lots of new possibilities but also allot of uncertainties. I had some time to reflect on things like, what would my life have looked like if history would have been different. I still wonder sometimes what I would have done in East Berlin if 1989 would have turned out completely different. Back then my plan was to go to the merchant marine as it seemed to be my best option to have a chance to see the world. Things turned out different and looking at my little girl I know I’ve been lucky several times in my life. 

On October 3rd we went to the Brandenburg gate to see the festivities but the children soon got scared by the amount of people flocking there to celebrate. We decided to just do lots of things that are fun for Cora and the following days. We went to an eco farm where children can pet the animals, we went kite flying, collected acorns, chestnuts and lots of colorful leaves in the woods around my sisters new home in the north of Berlin. Cora loved to have so much attention from all the people around and picked up a bit more German once again. It’s been a really nice few days in Berlin. Cora even was a good girl on the 7 hour train ride from and to Amsterdam. I admit I was a bit scared going on such a long ride with her. She is just really becoming a big girl now.

Here are the pictures

Birthday at the beach

It has not only been a perfect summer but it also seems to become a beautiful autumn with warm temperatures and lots of sunshine. Usually my birthday is already the turning point where summer really is gone and jackets have to be pulled out. I don’t remember having more than 20 degrees and walking around in shorts and t-shirt on my birthday. So what better way to make it a special day then going to the beach and enjoy the weather outdoors. Cora was so excited to drive in her new big girl car seat and watching her being so happy playing with in the sand, running around and just being her bubbling self was all I could wish for on a perfect birthday. Egmond aan Zee is one of my favorite places on the NL North Sea Coast. Its far enough from Amsterdam to feel like we are on a mini vacation and it has wide beaches with perfect soft sand. In Egmond aan Zee is also one special restaurant we discovered in recent years. It’s called Zilte Zoen. Its where we finished the day with great food watching the sunset. It’s been a perfect day. 

Link to the pictures.

Mummy jumped off the plane

Chris gave me a voucher to do a tandem skydiving jump on my last birthday in November.

Since I can't jump out of a plane out in freezing air, I have been sizing up the right weather and temperature to do it since the beginning of summer. Last weekend I finally got a spot to do the jump, and the waiting up had been really worth it. The summer day was sunny and dry, with very clear sky but not at all too hot.

I believe this is so far had been the best present I have ever received. I was expecting it to be an adrenaline rush like the bungee jump we did a couple of years back, but it was anything but. The fact that I was actually attached to an instructor twice my size who didn't waste time to jump off the plane on first chance (thus taking me with him), probably contributed a lot to the absence of real dread. The way up on the small plane was filled with anticipation, and once we were in the air, it didn't feel much like falling, it felt like flying! It was such an amazing feeling to drop through clouds (they're cold!) and to see so far into the horizon (including having to see there was nothing between my feet and the ground). Once the canopy was out, we descended slower and much more in control, until we finally touched ground.

The jump itself probably didn't last more than 2 minutes (I've got record of 38 seconds for the free-falling phase itself), but the whole experience was definitely the highlight of the already awesome summer of 2009.

Chris and Cora waited for me on the ground. At first Cora insisted that she wanted to come along, but then later on being OK to let me go. After I was back at the airfield, I asked Chris, how did Cora react when I left them for the plane. 

"Cora said, daddy, now we can have cola ijsje." (Cola ijsje is cola flavoured ice lolly that I never allow her to have. She has different deal with daddy, obviously.)

More pictures here.

A summer weekend with the grandparents

An absolutely perfect weekend comes to an end and even though I can already feel the muscle ache I will have tomorrow, I loved all the fun and action we had. Yesterday cycling the 25 kilometers up to Monnickendam, lots of swimming with Cora and then ...the same way back across the beautiful country side. A perfect summer day all together. Today, Cora the grandparents and I sailed up to Hoorn an old VOC city with lots of historical buildings and just a really charming atmosphere. The sailing itself was a bit rough at times as the wind freshened up quite a bit in the afternoon and the sun was away all together for a few hours. Most of the day the weather was beautiful.

Cora has been really sweet but needed a long hug when it all became a bit scary towards to the end. She’s quite used to the boat by now but the kind of waves and strong gusts from today where new to her too. She will be staying with my mom and dad for the next few days and was really excited about her vacation from us. I guess it’s also a bit peer pressure from the day care. All the children talk about their vacations and Cora wants to tell a story too. So we told her she will have a small vacation with Oma. She’s been telling everyone for days.

Here are the pictures

Vlissingen 2009

With half of their children and grandchildren living in the Netherlands,  my parents decided to spend their summer holidays here this year to explore North and South of the country for three weeks. They strapped their bicycles on the back of their car and are first staying in the most South-Western part of the Netherlands in Vlissingen for two weeks and then coming to stay in Monnickendam to spend another week close to us. They have been cycling around, exploring Zeeland and since Cherrie and I have never made it that far South, we thought it’s a good opportunity to make the trip down to Vlissingen and meet up for a family day at the beaches. 

I always wanted to go to Vlissingen anyway. I’ve learned allot about the place during my Nautical and Radio License courses and know about its rich maritime past. The city is at the last large port on the way down to Belgium, the Bretagne and of course to make the crossing over to the UK.  Its maritime atmosphere is also determined by shipping and pilot services at the roadstead just off the seafronts.

We’ve had a great lunch of fresh fish together and then went down to the beaches. It’s just such a joy to swim there watch the wind, water and clouds continuously at play. The huge commercial ships are passing by so closely you hear their engines if you dive. The grandparents, Cora, Cherrie and I had a great time but were literally washed away from the beach by the strong incoming tide with its currents. Within half an hour the water level went up so quickly that we had to pack up and leave quickly. We found a fantastic playground with lots of things to do for our little girl and finished the day with a dinner at the harbor. By pure coincidence (really!) one of my sailing friends put in with his boat coming from Oostende in Belgium. It was great to see him but unfortunately sooner then we liked a great day came to an end and we had to catch our train back home to Amsterdam. Cora was a real trooper the whole day. She stayed up until we came home but collapsed completely exhausted in her bed and fell asleep immediately. She is already looking forward to see Oma and Opa again next weekend.

Here are the pictures

Enkhuizen

Cherrie’s cousin Stephanie has finished her University degree in Germany and will start her new job in Stuttgart in autumn. Her student life is over and she has some time to spend this summer so she will be staying with us for a while in Amsterdam. Cora is happy about “Tante” being around as well. Now we have two people speaking German to Cora in the house. This weekend we’ve driven up to the North and visited Enkhuizen. It’s a place I always wanted to visit. It was one of the harbor-towns of the VOC (Dutch East India Company), just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted during the golden age around the mid-17th century.

Nowadays, Enkhuizen is still a place that oozes maritime tradition. It has one of the largest marinas of the Netherlands and one of the largest fleets of historical vessels. I guess you can see why I always wanted to go there.  Unfortunately the Zuiderzeemuseum, an open-air museum reflecting life in the villages around the Zuiderzee throughout history was closed today and we could only peak at some of the buildings. It was still a really nice day walking around through the old city center and letting Cora play in the sun on a local playground. We’ve had some of the best “Kibbeling” (freshly deep friend cod) I have eaten so far in NL and just a really relaxed day out in the sun. It was definitely worth the visit. I know I come back, quite possibly under sail.

Here are the pictures

Dancers Go To the Library Too!

We live not far from the Amsterdam Central Library. It's an impressive 8-story building just opened 2 years ago. Furnished pretty much entirely of designer furnitures and decorations down to the toilet signs it combines two of my biggest wordly passions; designer chairs and books. On a hot summer day, it also have the added bonus of air conditioner (and a cafe that sells ice-cream on the top floor).

I've been taking Cora to this library for the second time now this summer. It's got an impressive space for the juvenile section on the ground floor that allows for some running around, very comfy chairs and cushions, a 'tree house' to climb to for quiet reading, and a big collection of books in all kinds of languages, DVDs and games.

When reading gets a bit too stationary for Cora, she likes to go up the hall area where there is a piano where anybody that can play are invited to play. She loves listening to them and then to dance around on the shiny floor (well, a bit marching to her own beats, but it's the happiness that counts).

And when Cora found the books she'd like to bring home (she can pick from the English and the German shelves), or if we felt a bit thirsty, we all went up to the cafe and get ourselves some ice cream and cold drinks, and then walk over the canal to take the bus home. It just feels so nice and wholesome, and at least she doesn't come home covered in sand with cuts and bruises.

For the rest of the pictures, click here.