summer

Viewing: summer

Missed the boat

I spent what was probably the last sunny, warm Sunday of the summer—of the year!— in Amsterdam’s famous Canal Belt for Open Monument Day (more on that in a separate post). While walking from historic one canal house to the next, I felt dizzy and had to stop for a break. Marlon and I ended up spending a good half hour sitting by the canals, just watching all the boats on the stately Herengracht…

… and the smaller, but more charming Leidsegracht nearby.

It was a gorgeous day to be out. For the Dutch, to be out on such a day invariably means getting on a boat and heading out on the water.

This is probably one of the things about I love the most about the Dutch culture: their affinity with water. It seemed like everyone was out on a boat that day, from crusty old-timers and their shaggy dogs in rust buckets to silver-haired, linen-suited gentlemen in sleek white pleasure crafts.

I love watching the Dutch in their boats. They just look so happy. It doesn’t take much apart from a boat, the water and some gas. Just throw in some food, drinks, a big squishy cushion…

… and you’re all set. Don’t forget the babies (and a change of diapers)!

If not in a park, on the water is where you’ll find the Amsterdam summer. For the ladies, it was the last chance to slip into those maxi dresses and sandals, and wear the last neons of the season before swapping them for sweaters, boots and varying shades of gray.

And for the lads, it was the last chance to ogle tanned female bodies on display, and perhaps tempt them in passing with their shirtless goods. Sorry, boys. No more bare shoulders from here on in. Oh and in case you were wondering… Dutch gents really do slather on that much hair gel. This is not a summer thing, it’s all year round.

I spent the summer (a.k.a. my first trimester) mostly curled up in bed asleep, waking up to occasional pangs of guilt at being indoors while many a sunny day went on without me. Now I realize I haven’t been out on a boat all year. Summer is gone, and with it goes boat season… and I just missed it!

Well, maybe there is no such thing as boat season. You just know these crazy Amsterdammers will still be out on the water in October, heck, maybe even November. If I get desperate enough, I might just join them.

Related reading: check out last year’s boat trip on the canals (and the bridge that nearly decapitated us) here.

3 Comments
Posted on September 17, 2012
Category: Life in Amsterdam · Labels: Amsterdam, boat, summer

First trimester: Finding out

The last three months have just flown by. Not only does the weather go downhill from today, signaling the end of summer, but it’s also the end of my first trimester. I know, it’s confusing, wasn’t I at nine weeks just three weeks ago? Numbers aren’t my strong suit either, but that’s what the ob-gyne says. I am officially 14 weeks today.

It’s mostly bloat, but yes, there’s some baby in there too.

I’m surprised at how fast the first trimester has gone and how little I actually blogged about it. I’m actually the only person I know around here who’s said anything her pregnancy before the first trimester ended (seems to be a Western/Caucasian thing).

Still, I don’t want to forget; in fact, I already regret not documenting some of the early highlights (like how flat my tummy actually was!). So I thought I’d share a few of the most memorable moments from the first three months of my pregnancy… starting with how I found out I was pregnant.

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20 Comments
Posted on September 9, 2012
Category: Pregnancy · Labels: baby, family, Marlon, pregnancy, summer

Lake Balaton, the Hungarian Sea

A sandy beach and water sounded like paradise after being cooped up in scorching Budapest. After Marlon’s work in the city was done, we decided to cool off in landlocked Hungary’s most popular summer destination: Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe.

We arrived at Budapest Deli (one of Budapest’s two central train stations) bright and early Saturday to find a huge mob of overheated Hungarians all raring to escape the city.

Fortunately, we had booked tickets online a few days in advance. An eager, English-speaking trainee immediately spotted us looking lost and guided us to a ticket machine to print our tickets. He also helped us reserve seats in an air-conditioned car.

A little over two hours later, we arrived at the town of Siofok on the south shore of Lake Balaton. Walking to our apartment along Ady Endre utca, this main road lined with dozens of eateries began to feel oddly familiar. Then I realized it reminded me of… D’Mall.

All the tiny restaurants, people walking around in bare feet and swimwear, even the knockdown tiangge stalls hawking cheap bikinis felt so much like a slightly seedier Boracay, it began to feel bizarre. All that was missing was coconut trees, a tricycle service and Andok’s Lechon Manok (I really could have used the tricyles). ”Can you believe we’re in the middle of Hungary?” I asked Marlon.

Seeing this poster knocked me right back to reality. No beach party in the Philippines would ever advertise topless pool girls so shamelessly. God bless the Eastern Europeans.

Now, the beach. It wasn’t Boracay, heck it wasn’t even Puerto Galera. But red-faced and sweaty at 39℃, with the prospect of a dreary Dutch autumn looming, I ran to that beach like a long-lost lover.

And the water… well, it was blue, clean, swimmable, with enough of it for me and half the population of Hungary. Above all, it was warm. Holland’s North Sea makes me shriek every time I dare to go in it, but Lake Balaton elicited nothing but embarrassingly orgasmic groans of pleasure.

“Oh my God. Oh my GOD. I could spend the whole day in this water,” Marlon groaned as we waded into the lake with idiotic, summer-starved grins on our faces. And that’s exactly what we did.

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3 Comments
Posted on September 8, 2012
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: Balaton, Europe, Hungary, summer, travel

Summer at last!

You might have noticed that I haven’t been posting much about day-to-day life here in Amsterdam. Well to tell you the truth, apart from the traveling, spring and summer have been less than inspiring… and the weather has been mostly to blame. Weeks upon weeks of pouring rain and heavy gray clouds made me wish I was somewhere else, and you’ve seen that here.

But this week, things have changed. Summer finally came bearing its gifts: near-cloudless blue skies, blazing sunshine, and a transformed city. Amsterdam in the sunshine is colorful, cheerful, and so very alive—and I’ve spent the last few days offline in an effort to make the most of all that.

This late summer in Amsterdam brings with it the realization of things I once took for granted: walking to the corner store in shorts and flip-flops, enjoying a bowl of cereal with cold milk for breakfast, deciding that you want ice in your drink, getting a tan, even the feeling of breaking into a light sweat without moving a single muscle. (If you only really have to get sweaty a couple of times a year, it’s not so bad.)

But it also brings with it new pleasures: playing with babies and laughing with friends in a lush green backyard, driving to a beach where you never get burned no matter how long you stay in the sun, reading a new book in a sunny public park, throwing steaks and salmon on a barbecue grill (and eating them with salad, not rice). It’s funny how barbecues have become such a huge pleasure because the weather they require is so rare. Back home, there are barbecue grills practically installed on every other street corner, and we don’t even think about it.

So, I’m going offline again to enjoy this elusive, precious summer and all the little things I may again take for granted someday. (That’s humanity for you.) But please come back on Sunday for a special brunch treat… one that’s been way overdue! And of course, there will be more Iceland adventures next week.

Happy weekend!

1 Comment
Posted on July 27, 2012
Category: Life in Amsterdam · Labels: Amsterdam, beach, friends, summer, weekend

Strawberry basil sorbet with balsamic syrup

To bid goodbye to his (soon-to-be) old job, Marlon and I decided to use his employee discount one last time to purchase one household appliance. After I exercised my wifely veto against the giant noise-canceling earphones, electric toothbrush, air fryer, and blue light (“…but you get so sad when it’s cloudy!” he protested), we finally agreed on one thing: an ice cream maker.

That was how, while I was sick in bed last weekend, my amazing kitchen demigod turned this…

… into this.

These photos were taken with hubby’s new Olympus PEN EP3… loving the color saturation from this camera! Special thanks to my mom and her good taste for the lovely vintage tablecloth.

Using fresh, in-season strawberries (only €1 for half a kilo!) and the basil we are now attempting to grow at home, Marlon combined a recipe for homemade strawberry sorbet from The Joy of Baking with the idea of using whipped egg white as a binder from BBC Good Food.

1/3 cup (80 ml) water
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
500 grams fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg white
handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped finely

Make a simple syrup using equal parts water and sugar. Dissolve the sugar in water in a saucepan over low heat; bring to the boil for about a minute. Remove and place in the refrigerator to chill.

Puree the strawberries in a food processor. Add chopped basil and lemon juice. Chill in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, whisk the egg white (the recipe says lightly, but my eager ice cream man whisked them until stiff).

Once both the strawberries and syrup are chilled, combine them with the egg white and transfer to the ice cream maker. Set to churn however your machine works; ours churned it for about half an hour. Watching it turn into ice cream was so exciting!

For the balsamic syrup, simply boil balsamic vinegar (we used the good stuff, aged for 8 years, from Florence!) with sugar to taste until it thickens into a syrup. Drizzle over the sorbet to serve.

We really should have put our sorbet in a container to freeze first. But we just couldn’t resist and had it straight out of the ice cream maker. Yum yum. Oh, and I’m feeling much better now… I’ve been healed by strawberry basil sorbet!

6 Comments
Posted on June 25, 2012
Category: Food & Drink, House & Spouse · Labels: food, ice cream, Marlon, summer

Amsterdam’s front door gardens

Living in Amsterdam, it helps to have a short memory. That way it only takes a day or two of warmth and sunshine to forget three weeks of drizzle and gray. When the sun is out, all is forgiven and everything is transformed. Over the weekend, I spent some much-needed time in the sun and rediscovered some of the little things I love about living in Amsterdam.

Front door gardens are one of them. Flowers are abundant and cheap in the Netherlands, but growing your own flowers is how locals get them even cheaper. Apartment living doesn’t stop Amsterdammers from gardening; thus the presence of gorgeous blooms on doorsteps, where they have the best chance of catching the sunshine they need.

It’s June and all the front door gardens are in full bloom. A walk around the Jordaan shows an abundance of bright green spilling over gates…

… of colors cascading over doors, and roses tumbling down over windows.

Where does your garden grow? Out of brick walls, crates, buckets… even old wooden shoes, apparently.

I have a despicably black thumb (Paisley Parsley, Alexander Coriander and Rosemary Gil all died prematurely), but my weekend walk inspired me to give gardening another try. Have you had any success growing plants at home? Any tips for a newbie apartment gardener?

7 Comments
Posted on June 19, 2012
Category: Life in Amsterdam · Labels: Amsterdam, flowers, Jordaan, summer

Badeschiff: Berlin’s floating pool party

Swimming is one of the things I miss most about tropical city life. Sunning at one of Amsterdam’s parks or urban “beaches” has its appeal, but cooling off with a dip is an essential element I’ve been missing so far.

So I died of envy when my husband decided, while I was at my blog conference, to go swimming. He didn’t just pick the nearest public pool, but chose the Badeschiff, Berlin’s first and only floating swimming pool.

Photo via Hubbycam

“Badeschiff” translates to bath + ship, and this is just what it is: the hull of a ship, or barge, converted into a swimming pool. With a sandy “beach”, wooden deck and open air bar, it’s a landmark of the new, creative Berlin… and the perfect scene for a floating party on the river Spree.

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6 Comments
Posted on May 28, 2012
Category: Wanderlust · Labels: Berlin, Europe, summer, travel

Happy (sunny) weekend!

Summer has finally arrived in Amsterdam… not a moment too soon!

That means drying laundry in the sun, cloudless bright blue skies, eating outside without having to wear a ton of clothes or battle a headache, wearing sandals and toenail polish, and swimming… ohhhh, swimming. I almost felt tears in my eyes at the pool yesterday, and it wasn’t the chlorine.

Basically, it’s time for all the things I used to take for granted living in Singapore and Manila. I’m still kind of in denial that I now only really get to do these things a few days each year.

It’s a long weekend because of Pinksterdag, or the second weekend of Pentecost. (And I thought I was in a Protestant country?) I’m determined to stay out of the house and make the most of this abundant sunshine—because God only knows how long it will last.

I know I’ll have a blast this weekend…so should you. Have a great weekend!

4 Comments
Posted on May 26, 2012
Category: Life in Amsterdam · Labels: Amsterdam, summer

10 things that are more fun in the Philippines

Inspired by the recently launched Department of Tourism campaign, I looked through two years worth of photos (without the help of Google, all of them are mine) to come up with my own list of things that are more fun in the Philippines. I’ve put up only 10 here but the possibilities are endless.

Can I just say, this was so much fun to do? Can the Negative Nellies out there please give it a try? It’s better for your heart and your wrinkles, I promise. Although may find it difficult if you are devoid of humor—a rather rare and life-threatening condition for a Filipino.

But wait, there’s more!

Oh, and here’s the one I included in my previous post. This makes it 11, but at least I have the complete set in one post.

Twilight, Salad, Getting Buzzed: taken at the Bohol Bee Farm, Bohol.

Morning Coffee, Exfoliating, Seeing Red: taken on Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol.

Of course, the tarsier (Treehugging) was also shot in Bohol.

Sunblock: White Beach, Boracay Island, Aklan.

Breaking Dawn: Bantayan, Cebu.

Finding Nemo: snorkeling at the Virgin Island Marine Sanctuary in Bantayan, Cebu.

Christmas: Filinvest Marikina.

The images are yours to use and circulate. Please remember to credit me or my blog when doing so. Go forth and spread the love—and have fun! #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines

23 Comments
Posted on January 8, 2012
Category: Manila Girl at Heart · Labels: beach, food, More Fun In The Philippines, Philippines, photography, summer, travel

A toast to September

I know, I know. October is halfway done and here I am posting about September.

I still have a bit of a hangover from last month. Although fall had officially begun in September, we were blessed with what is known as an Indian summer: two straight weeks of seasonally misplaced, blissfully warm and sunny weather that stretched all the way into the first couple of days of October. It was the summer Amsterdam didn’t have. The whole city felt positively festive, like it was drunk on sunshine. Para silang nanalo sa giyera.

The last weekend before autumn weather officially kicked in was absolute bliss. Marlon and I hosted a dinner at home, with four other expat couples. It was actually warm enough to have cocktails on the balcony, so my friend Leigh suggested we make mojitos. The next day, it was so warm and muggy and lazy that we dragged our air mattress onto the balcony, sprawled out with some books, and made a couple more mojitos with the leftover ingredients from the previous evening. Mmmm.

Here’s what I learned from Leigh’s mojito tutorial:

Into a tall glass, put two teaspoons white sugar, a handful of fresh mint leaves, a little slosh of white rum (we used Bacardi) and two lime wedges, or half a lime cut into two. Crush the lime wedges until juice comes out (I used an ice cream scooper!). Fill with soda water and ice. Clink glasses and enjoy.

I’m raising my glass to September—you were absolutely, unexpectedly fantastic. Cheers!