On a vacation to Cairo, Egypt!!

Its vacation time, with Christmas and New year knocking at the door. We are leaving tonight for Cairo, Egypt ..two weeks, I cant wait for the vacation to get started :-)

Getting an Egyptian visa was a different ball game altogether or was made out to be so, will share the story after I come back. I will also be continuing with the Dutch Food series on this blog, and ofcourse share my vacation titbits thereafter.

So dear friends, see you all in the new year then!!

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

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Another Expat Interview!!

Got a chance to voice my opinions and experiences as an expat in an interview with Expatica. It got published last week but somehow I missed the publication date :-)

The Expatica website is a wonderful information resource for expats in any country of the world. Must read for all the expats. Do read my interview here !!

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Snowtime in Rotterdam

Its that time of the year again when everything gets around you covered with a white hue..White, the sign of purity, peace, and longevity.

Now, I know people face a lot of problems due to the snow but for me personally, I really enjoy the snow. I saw a lot of school children playing with the snow, making snow balls, snow man et al in a school playground near my house, so am sure they like snow as well.

If you all like it too, do check out the pics below. And if you dont like the snow fall, then you should check them out all the more to witness the true beauty of a snow fall :-)

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Expat Interview !!

Expat blogger Amanda Van Mulligan has been running the Expat Interviews series on her blog A Letter from the Netherlands for a while now. The expat in the hot seat gets to answer a list of questions on his/her expat life in Netherlands, and share experiences. It is a pretty useful series for other expats out there, to help them gain an insight into the various expat ways of life.

I got a chance to volunteer for this interview, and I must admit I had a nice time doing so, sharing my two cents on living in Netherlands. Read the full interview here and let me know how you find it.

Thanks Amanda for the interview, it was a unique experience!! And kudos once again, for such an amazing, useful blog!

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Dutch Food Guide

Have been thinking now for a long time to have a series of posts on my blog on the Dutch Food ingredients, recipes and the like. There is a whole lot of variety on the Dutch platter which intrigues and excites you at the same time. Starting from the Dutch love for breads, to vegetables, dairy products, meat, to desserts, there is simply a lot to be written and shared. I will post my first blog post in this series soon...till then fingers crossed. Keep smiling and keep reading!! Wish you all a Merry Christmas..!!

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The beautiful scheveningen Beach - Den Hague!!

The vast expanse of the sea is often is enough to make any one philosophical. More so, if it is partnered by a long clear stretch of sand..The Scheveningen beach in The Hague can be described by just one word - Awesome.

Savour these pics of the beach taken early morning around 6 am (yes, we decided to go to the beach in the early hours on a nice saturday morning).

The beach in the wee hours of the morning

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One year in Holland!!

One year has passed by since I set foot in this beautiful country of Holland. And what a year it has been. I remember very clearly what my feelings were before coming here. It was a cocktail of anxiety, anticipation, joy and thrill.

I was looking forward to discovering a new culture, new people, new habits and at the same time I was apprehensive about this new world.

But after living here for one year, I look back and smile at my anxiousness then. It has been quite a smooth integration for me and my husband, barring a few instances. This one year has helped me meet new people, make good friends, evolve as a writer, learn a new language, handle different situations and become a better individual.

Netherlands for me earlier stood for wind mills, cheese and tulips but the complete picture now includes all of the following :

• Windy and wet climate
• Different bread toppings
• Cakes and muffins
• Clogs
• Blue pottery
• Queen's Day (Koninginnedag)
• Summer Carnival
• Sinterklaas
• Black Piet
• Bikes
• Canals
• The color Orange
• KLM
• Albert Heijn
• NS Highspeed
• Haring
• Blue berries
• Water
• and above all, its helpful and smiling people.

So, here is a big Thank You Holland!!!

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Missing India!!

Missing my family, relatives and friends back in India today. The feeling is stronger than it is on other days, have so much to say, so much to share with all of them.

Keep supporting me and keep your faith in me. I love you all..Keep smiling always!!

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Dubai Crisis - must read for an expat!!

Dubai has been nothing short of a paradise for expats in this decade offering high salaries, great lifestyle, tax free incomes, and an dream real estate run. But suddenly all of this has come crashing down and has made people all over the world sit up and take notice.

The real estate story had always been too god to be true and now the numbers prove just that. But the one most important lesson that one can learn from this crisis is to avoid leveraging and debts..it spells doom in the end. Click here to read the whole story.

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National Anthem of Netherlands - Het Wilhelmus

Check out the National Anthem of Netherlands, the oldest in the world. You can find more information on the same here.

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Kubuswoningen Rotterdam (Cube Houses)

Houses in the shape of a cube, tilted at an angle, line the Blaak railway station in Rotterdam. These are the Cube Houses or the Kubuswoningen as they are called in Dutch. Its quite a view if you are seeing it for the first time. Curious and intrigued, you can take a look inside a cube house too. So then,whats stopping you then.. go out and have a look. And before that, do check out some of my clicks..

Cube houses - all lined up.

Inside a cube house

Another view

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Kleur van Rotterdam (Colours of Rotterdam)

As they say, a picture can speak a thousand words. Here are some of my pics describing Rotterdam through my eyes..I am not a professional photographer therefore the frames, light, and angle etc may not be perfect but they nevertheless depict the various moods and colours of this beautiful city.

Topview of Rotterdam

Ferry over the North Sea

The road forward, through the car windscreen

The man without a heart - Symbol of the destruction due to the World war II

The pride of Rotterdam - Erasmus Bridge (on a rainy day)

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Learning the Dutch Language - Part III

This is Part III in a series of posts on learning the Dutch Language. Check out Part I and Part II, to be with the flow.

As any English speaking expat will vouch for, you do not feel the need to learn the language in Netherlands because you do not face a language issue in the public domain. Quite the contrary, the Dutch are more than happy to speak to you in English thereby not giving even a remote chance to you to practice your broken Dutch..:-(

The language learning process mainly starts due to either of the two reasons -

• You are required to give an Inburgering exam by law
• When you yourself want to take that extra step towards integration with the Dutch culture and want to understand all your paperwork without using translate.google.com

I belong to the latter half. Therefore, last month I joined a Dutch course in an institute. It was a beginners level course of 8 weeks; aimed at getting a feel of the language, learning the basics, grammar and vocabulalry.

I had my last class this monday and I must admit that the course came out pretty well for me. I can now claim understand atleast a few words spoken in rapid fire Dutch by my neighbour.

Well, on the last day of the class, we were all supposed to give a short presentation on any topic of our choice, of course in Dutch. I gave mine on "Mijn Geboortestad" ie my birthcity Jodhpur.

It was fun making the presentation, visiting my city all over again in my thoughts. Doing it in Dutch was the most difficult part but it was quite a learning, without using any translators whatsoever. The presentation went good, smooth and easy.

You can have a look at it here.

The only issue I am experiencing now is that understanding Dutch when spoken by expats is easier than by the native Dutch speakers. Perhaps it has to do something with the accent because I feel they (native speakers) speak it really fast thus making it rather difficult to listen to the words. The written and spoken Dutch indeed seem to be two different languages :-)

What do you all feel..do share your experience on Dutch learning or any other language in the comments section below.

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Dutch Delight - Typical Dutch Food

I have been trying to learn the Dutch names of food items, vegetables and fruits; and have been fairly successful at that. The next stage now is to try my hand at some of those Duutch recipes that I always found mouthwatering and healthy..heerlijk as they say.

Recently in my quest for books related to the Dutch cuisine, I came across this book "The Dutch Delight" by Sylvia Pessireron on the Amazon.. Lucky me, I must say.

The book is complete with a lot of photographs, artistically taken explaining even the finest of the details. It consists of 25 most famous and easy to make Dutch recipes, written in a simple, lucid style.

In the author's own words, the book aims at:-

"Get to know the Dutch through their food. what they eat and drink, graze through their eating habits and recipes, and when you're done, try them. Enjoy Dutch delights like haring (herring), snert (pea soup), stamppot (mashed potatoes and kale) and pannenkoeken (pancakes). Sample a typical Dutch breakfast or a fantastic sweet dessert...Easy to digest and with more than 25 recipes and over 300 mouthwatering pictures, this book forms a thorough introduction to the Dutch kitchen, as well as a great souvenir."

The book covers chapters on bread and toppings, dairy items, meat and fish, desserts and coffee, fast food, sandwiches etc to name a few. Towards the end, one also finds chapters on asian and mediterranean cuisines that bring out the deja -vu feeling.

So, all you food connoisseurs out there, check out the book as shown below.


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