Leg 3 of our trip - Enjoy life our 2nd home in Amsterdam 8 - 24 May

Amsterdam was our pit stop to take a break from our travelling.

Before we started on this trip, I never understood why people need to take a holiday while on a holiday. Now I do. Continuously travelling tires one out. The motion of sightseeing, eat, sleep, pack and long hours on train or buses does tire one out. Sometimes, it kills off the beauty of a place cos attractions look the same after a while.

We started asking fellow travellers if they are tired of travelling too...Some has been travelling for years, some for months and some on a 6 months break from work, life or on a long honeymoon. Thankfully, most said yes. At some point, it got me to pondering if it's cos we are not suitable to travel for long! But now, after 4 months of travelling, we don't wanna go back! hehe..I guess once we break through the runner's wall, there's no turning back!

We are very lucky to have friends residing in Europe and friends visiting Europe. They helped us to cure a large part of homesickenss and food supplies from S'pore. Being foodies, we missed food back home the most! We can never walked past an Asian restaurant without getting excited. Haha...so when we got to Amsterdam, we ate our filled!

Here's photos of our pigging out time when we were in Amsterdam 2 months back..hehe and our great time in Amsterdam!

Click on the links below for photos...

Day Trip to Keukenhof

Pigging out days in Holland


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2 weeks in Holland! May 7 - 24

After the hit and run 2 days in Nepal, we arrived in the cold Amsterdam on May 7! 

Looking back, we were in 5 countries in less than a week. 

Mon - India, Tue - Nepal, Thur - Greece, Fri - Netherlands. Quite an achievement, isn't it?

And guess what after we left Nepal, the strikes ended on Friday! Happy for PY and KX cos it means they will not be stranded and can head to Tibet. As for us, though it was a shame that we are unable to travel & work in Nepal as planned, we were happy to head to Europe earlier too....especially to the house of Zandvoort!

After almost 9 weeks of travelling, it was great to take a break and stay in our good friends' place. =) We had been quite tired from the travelling..hehe...and it was great to recharge for the next leg of our trip. Coming to Europe was on original plan 1 (costly then took out..) then we had plan 2 to go Tibet & China after Nepal and now by twist of fate, we are back to plan 1 - Greece! So it didn't help to plan too far ahead...and it makes it more exciting!

We have alot of reflections for India and have a few more posts for India too. Will dish them out when ready...right now, we are really far behind with our blogs and frens have been asking "why no updates?!" and if we are still continuing with our blog. hehe. 

It's strange that when we are not travelling and have internet access almost 24 hr a day, why no updates? haha... Well, life at the Zandvoort had been pretty fun and occupied. We spent our days eating out (dim sum, singapore-malaysia food etc), shopping, watch movies, cook yummy meals (we even had home made steamboat!!), visit tulips garden, cycle around, go to markets (like our pasar malam), chit chatting, surfing web for England (yes, we are gg England to fulfill Jeff's dream - Manchester!)... So we have been very busy and two weeks went past in a flash!! 

Part 2 of our 6mths break will be time abroad with friends!

So it's time to head on the road again tomorrow..next stop - Belgium.

Before that, here's some nice pictures of things we have been doing in Holland!

 Day 1 - Arrival and pickup by Suzanne!! =)

Day 2 - Dutch Breakfast with Wouter & Zanne

Sunset view from their balcony

Our little adventure ride to town..

Visit to tulips garden - Keukenhof

Strolling and cuddling in the tulips garden.. =)

Feeding ducklings in the pond..

Streets of Amsterdam city..

Torturing rides for the Zanne & Wouter cos we were too slow for them!!

Chef Wouter preparing his delicious salad!!

Checking out their market..

Our cosy sleeping corner in the living room..

BBQ in the park with more Singaporean frens on holidays!

Mehmeh's reflections after 8 weeks in India - 10 May

A day or two after we arrived in Amsterdam, I asked Zanne, “Hey, do you think we need to bring a torchlight out?” She laughed at us! Afterall, we have not got used to living a day without torchlight as blackout was part of our daily life in India.

A fellow traveller who spent a year in India shared that one has to open his/her heart to India and she will embrace you. She was complaining about another traveller who lamented about the heat, filth and people. 

After hearing all the different stories of India, I have to say Jeff and I prepared very well mentally. Most of the things we had encountered, seen or do were well within or above our expectations. I guess that made us enjoyed India and happy with the little bonuses and surprises we receive daily… 

When….
-    our trains got delayed… we laughed and sat with the locals talking about Indian time..
-    our transportation tyre punctured, “how fun and interesting to see how resources are utilised”
-    we were turned away at the guest house though we have a booking at midnight, “gives us a chance to find a better accommodation!”,
-    we were caught in traffic jams “wow..time to take more pictures”
-    lost our things, “hey, we should start making a list of the things we have lost to see who has the longest list…”

Things we love about India
1)    The people – warm, helpful, friendly, humble and genuine, hardly complaining, super flexible...

2)    Always ‘try’ spirit. Red light, “it’s ok, I can still try to inch forward if there are no cars..”

With pictorial evidence…

3)    Missed a turn/entrance, reverse or turn and drive against the traffic!

(we even have a video of how a car just reversed his way backwards on a busy road cos he missed a turn on the slip road!) 

4)    When nothing is ever too full and the just Try attitude!

5)    Preferential rate for locals: Local pays only one-tenth the price tourists pay!

6)    Most places have guidelines on rates to prevent tout

7)    Always happy to share

1 man was buying something, within minutes, other locals started crowding to check out what’s happening.

On another occasion, we saw a big grp of pple outside a restaurant N asked the policeman what was going on. He readily shared the information!

8)    There is always a pail and stool in every bathroom (which reminded me of kampong days and bathing with pail!) Useful for me to wash clothes too!

9)    Friendly locals who are always ready to help. You asked 1 for directions, then everyone around chips in to help!

10)    Snacks are always displayed like decoration along the roads! How can one resist not buying?!

11)    Maximum retail price on almost everything! So it’s the same price in supermarket and even touristy places!

There are just too many things to love about India! We had planned to stay in India for 6 weeks…then it became 7…and finally 8 weeks. 

There were days when things were rough but we survived. There were days we looked into children’s eyes and felt helpless towards them. There were days we are glad that we had come to India and how she has opened our eyes to a different world. There were days that we were amazed by the survival skills of the local.  There were days we are thankful how much we have back home and counted our blessings.

I hoped to be back someday… to see the places we did not get to go….to show our children how fortunate they are…to be able to contribute a little to the country…hope it won’t be too long the wait!

Post India reflection for Huzi - Week 9 - May 7

During the journey around India, I reflected a lot on my personal life and couplehood with meh.  We had quite a bit of time while travelling from place to place on trains.  This gave us the opportunity to read some books and had a lot of soul searching conversations.

The readings we had ranged from personal development stuff to the struggles of the Tibetan people.  These knowledge and the interaction with the various facets of India impacted our thinking quite a bit. We had chosen to embrace the beauty of India.  The beauty of her backwaters, beaches, desert, mountains, rivers, forts, temples etc never failed to enchant us.  However, we never tried to escape from the reality that there are so many homeless children that we saw who lacked basic things.  Sadly, circumstances caused many of them to beg.  We felt really sad that these children lacked so many things that our kids back home take for granted.  

The volunteering sessions we had with children reminded us how innocent and sweet children are, no matter where they are from.  Of course, there are rapid developments going on everywhere but we kept sensing that the previously contented man in the streets had given up to the greeds of development.  In small towns and villages, we encountered many helpful and sincere people.  In major cities, like many in the world, people are all in a hectic life to get where they want.  Along the way, we also kept hearing news of conflicts in the world such as Thailand, Nepal, Ukraine etc and freakish weather in China, Iceland etc.

I have been trying to be contented with life and now I understood that first and foremost, I have to simplify my life.  To appreciate the simple things in life and treasure every moment I have with my family and friends.  These will help me to be contented with life and not fall into the vicious cycle of chasing after something.  I will try to live every moment as if it is my last.  I feel so blessed that I have everything.   

As a couple, we realised that the world is really big, too big for us to cover all.  After a while, it is just monuments after monuments.  However, there were a couple of trips in the past that we really enjoyed.  After analyzing further, we realised that it was the company of friends and family that made the big difference.  The experience of taking a journey with friends and family is different from trying to see sights after sights.  

With the Nepal riots worsening, we decided to take refuge at Suzanne and Wouter place in Amsterdam!  They totally rejuvenated us.  As such, we changed our journey objective and plans to meet friends and family instead!  We felt that there is no need for us to see the world.  Singapore is really a blessed country.  With no natural disasters, political strife, strikes, riots, we could not have asked for more.  Of course there will still be some places that we will still like to visit that will touch our hearts, either now or in the future with a different perspective.  That is why we are heading to Manchester!

To close, we have some loose criteria that will guide our future travels. First, to fulfill a dream we have.  Second, to enjoy the delicious food cos we are foodie! And last, the company of friends and family to experience something new and have fun together!

Live from Nepal on 5 May

After 8 weeks in Incredible India, we boarded the plane to Kathmandu on 4 May with lots of excitement to meet Peiyi and Kaixun! =)

Coming from a country where strikes is unheard of, it has been an interesting and a little tense situation when we arrived in Kathmandu as there's indefinite strike going on in Nepal. Sound familiar like the Land of Smiles?

1) All local transports have stopped due to Maoists strikes to bring down the current Prime Minister. Only limited tourist buses are allowed to bring tourists to hotels from airport. So it was a crammed ride!!

2) 'Supporters' of the Maoist parties lined the street holding hands blocking off the roads. They were cheering and jeering as our bus drove past.. Interestingly, there were alot of local onlookers as well.

3) All the shops on the roads are forced to close as the Maoist attacks those shops that are opened. Only specific opening hours for locals to buy daily supplies. 

We decided to check into an expensive hotel as there's guarantee of security, electricity, water and internet. Peiyi says that her apartment owner told them to save water (no transportation of water due to strike) and bathe twice a week! 

It was a joy meeting up with them, catching up on what we have been doing for the last 8 weeks and 6 weeks for them. They even brought us luncheon meat bread!!! =) 

We have asked for options to travel to other parts of Nepal like Pokara (thinking that it could be better) and hotel says everything has come to a halt. When we read news this morning, situation in Pokara seems worse as some tourists are trapped there and some still stuck at treks. There's still $$$ to withdraw at the standard chartered atm while all other banks atm have closed and we are concern when the $$ will run out as we do not have much nepalese rupees with us.

We spent the night on the internet searching updates on the Nepal situation, flights options out etc..where to head next. After much considerations and not wanting to wait indefinitely in Nepal, we decided to head to Amsterdam for free lodging with Suzanne and Wouter! 

There are much exciting plans to entice us to go like Herring season (dutch raw fish), cycling trip over the weekend, bbq in the park, Heineken brewery, Wouter to cook delicious pasta for us, hugs and warmth from our dear frens!

So Amsterdam here we come! =) 

Our budget flight tomorrow leaves Kathmandu for Sharjah(United Arab Emirates) then to Athens where we have to sleep a night before taking another flight the following day to Amsterdam. So much for budget travelling! According to the news right now, there's strike in Athens too!! All flights cancelled for 4-5 May as airport is closed due to strike. Hopefully, our flight on 6 & 7 May would not be affected. Else, more live report from Greece! It just keeps getting interesting and tense!

Before you get to see tulips pics in Amsterdam, here's some of the streets of Patan that we have taken this morning!

Empty streets due to the strikes, so only people walking and all shops closed.

Protesters from the villages queuing up for free meals provided by Maoist.

Music was played and they were dancing...

Situation slightly different from what we saw at the airport.

Looks like Dal and oat.

Police changing shift..

Policemen at every few junctions..

A little stall we found opened (facing possible vandalism by Maoist for defying orders to close) to buy water!

Meeting up with Peiyi & Kaixun - highlight of the trip!