Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Europe Here I Come Part 6b

Amsterdam, The Second Part.
Due to the many pictures that I will be using to illustrate this post about Amsterdam, I am splitting the post. This is Part 6b, the final post.

This is Wim, our local guide in Amsterdam. Beside his native Dutch, he speaks German, English, French and a few other languages fluently. Wim is full of knowledge with information at his finger tips. Above all he is very witty and most jokes were about himself and he certainly knows how to take care of the sensitivities of others especially the German driver. If the driver was a Dutch, the German would have been the butt of his jokes. Wim is divorced from his wife and lives in the same block of flat with his ex wife. He said that often made his wife jealous and angry whenever he brought his girlfriend to his home. He considers himself poor and made use of the many loopholes in the system to enjoy a comfortable life. Earlier he gave us a younger age but at the end of the tour he owned up to the lie and announced his actual age. POTO Travel certainly employed the best guide for the Amsterdam tour. His only mistake was when he went to the wrong Artemis Hotel in the city and not the Artemis Hotel which was in the outskirt of town where we stayed. Anyway Wim caught up with us at the diamond factory. At the factory Wim managed to pick up the brains of a few of us to determine our basic profile to prepare himself on how best to handle our group. That is a professioanl guide for you.
After having lunch of half a chicken shared with my other half at a Turkish restaurant in the shopping area of Amsterdam, we boarded the bus heading for Zaanse Schans, in the north province of Holland. This place has a number of well preserved historic windmills and houses.

We were scheduled to be taken to mosque in Holland and Wim did manage to arrange with the official of a mosque for our impending arrival. Due to poor time management, the visit to the mosque was cancelled. Somehow along the way we spotted a mosque almost hidden by trees surrounding it.The entrance fee to the village was included in the package so we didn't have to pay it ourselves. At the entrance, two photographers were at the ready to photograph us individually. Our photographs will be mounted on a card with pictures of the village and would make great mementos at Euro 10 per pic.
Pak Zawi chose to shoot the photographer instead.

The sight of a small boy in an extremely large clog being photgraphed by his mother caught my sight.

This pretty lass was being photographed in an even bigger clog.
In the woodenshoe workshop, the group was given a briefing on how a wooden shoe is made.

This shoemaker showed us how a shoe is made with his machines. Oakwood was used for making the wooden shoes.
The traditional way was done using this gadget to slice off a small piece of a block of wood in this large 'kacip' like contrapton. It was a tedious excercise and machines were later invented to hasten the process to just a few minutes based on a ready mould.
Even chiseling the inside of the shoe is done automatically and the workmen even had time to make phonecalls. Similar routine were performed for other groups including the phonecalls. Now I know the phone isn't even connected as it was just a dummy.

The finished products on display.

An intricately carved pair of shoes.

This one is even more unique. It could serve as a weapon much worse than the stilletos.
Next we moved off to the cheese making factories.

This girl demonstrated on how a ball of hard cheese is made into slices ready for cooking. Later we were offered to bu the cheese with the slicer included. Can we generalise that most cheese lovers are overweight?

All the cheese you will ever want.
The windmill is of course the main item to see. Windmills in its traditional form is used to generate the power through it's system of gears to pump water froma lower elevation to a higher one. This is how farmlands were kept above water level otherwise it will be flooded. Another main use is as a grinder to grind grains. We had to pay extra to visit the inside of a windmill.

We were in Netherland! The windmill is the proof.

This is a typical Dutch house.
While walking around we saw these two birds flying.
As if on cue, they landed in the canal quite close to us. They are wild ducks!


Floating houses quite similar to the 'rumah rakit' along the river bank of Kota Bharu. The only difference is the 'rumah rakit' in Kota Bharu sits on bundles of bamboo poles which needed to be replaced after a few years. Later plastic drums were used instead. Another difference is the raft houses in Hollands are not exposed to the vagaries of bad weather whereas in Malaysia, the water level will rise several meters during the monsoon and even the best ropes used to tether the 'rumah rakit' may snap or the anchor points maybe uprooted sending the houses adrift towards the river estuaries.
We were on the bus again moving towards Vollendam, a fishing village along the lakes formed when the dikes were constructed.
We saw a new house being constructed and was really amazed to see the amount of insulation required to keep the houses warm during the winter. The roofs were highly raked to allow the snow to fall off during winter.
Even the smallest of space was used to plant pretty colourfull flowers for landscape.
A seemingly sophisticated bike.

The statue of the Dutch lady made Fatthiah looked very slim in comparison.
The beauty of the lakeside with the fishing vessels berthed along the jetty.
One for the album infront of this giftshop by the name of Keko.

The shopowner (assumed to be one) is a friendly lady who entertained many of our requests including a discount. We found the merchandize on sale here to be much cheaper than in Amsterdam and the quality was better.
When we reached home, we found that this was one of the things she regretted for not buying, the wooden tulips. Ladies, don't make the same mistake as my other half did.

Another one for the album.

On the way back to the hotel we had to pass through the city of Amsterdam again. We saw this sculpture.
A stop at Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam was a must as somebody among us had to buy a T Shirt at all the outlets of the Cafe. I bet she missed the one in Manama, Bahrain when we first stopped enroute to Europe.
The Holland Casino is just nearby to Hard Rock Cafe Amsterdam. Don't miss it if you think you are lucky enough that you can recoup all your travelling expenses by having a binge at the casino.
Since I wasn't interested in any Hard Rock Cafe merchandise, I was left free to do my own things.
A lovey dovey couple passed by.
This young lady had to wait for her friends whose bike decided to drop off its chain that drives the whhel's sprocket.Here the friend had to catch up and was amused when I took a shot of her.
We returned to our hotel.
There was no adult movie on our TV at the hotel. It was not that they were not available but we had to pay for it. It would be our last night in Amsterdam.

The sun rose early in Amsterdam. Well it was around 4.22 am that the sun rises. Subuh was at 2.17 AM. I rose early to catch the rising sun.
This is how the hotel looks at the beginning of daybreak. This hotel is in a new neighbourhood. Among others in the neighbourhood is IBM Holland and Price Waterhouse Coopers. PWC should be on every body's lips now as it is involved in the audit of the PKF scandal that is going to cost the people of Malaysia a big fortune and at the same time make some people very rich.

Price Waterhouse Coopers.
Just to let you see how nice is the inside of the hotel compared to the ones we had in Luscerne, Switzerland and Classic Hotel of Paris.

This stork waited for me to get ths close before flying off to the other side of the pool. How cheeky.

This is Francisco from Nicaragua. He is a very friendly waiter at the hotel and we struck up our friendship at first sight.
Time to hit the road again. This time we were headed for Brussels, Belgium.
The ladies were ready on the bus.

New buildings at the outskirt of Amsterdam. Above is Hotel Holiday Inn.
The rural landscape of cows and pastures.


Some bridges.
This tunnel reminds me of the tunnel in Paris when Eddy the driver mentioned that was where Princess Diana and her lover died in an accident trying to run away from the papparazi.

We saw these magazines again at another pee stop on the way to Brussels. This is what I regretted most for not buying them while I had the opportunity. The customs in KLIA didn't even bother to ask me to stop for inspection. I could have brought in a couple of them, the extras could be given to my friends in Malaysia.

60 comments:

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Oooh, those pointy sharp clogs are a hazard, Abang Zawi! If you fall over, you might just put your eye out, ha ha.

Seems to me that cyclists have more fun. Even chain trouble can't get their spirits down.

I loved the pic of you with Fatthiah, and the tiny colourful flowers growing in that small space. I would have bought the wooden tulips for my mother, they are her favourite flowers. Funny why she didn't buy any when she was there. She bought some folksy printed tea towels, paintings and miniature wooden clogs and Dutch country houses.

Cheerio,
CO78

Sisters303 said...

that tunnel roadway is cooool..

Pak Zawi said...

Ee Lynn,
Yes those pointed clogs are a danger to the user itself.
The cyclists were foreign youths, that was what Eddy the driver observed. They really enjoyed themselves by the way they look.
When you reach Amsterdam one day, we will have to ask you to buy some for us and send them to us at whatever the cost. Now that we are home, the sight of the picture of the flowers make us long to be there again so that we can buy the flowers huhuhu.

Pak Zawi said...

Sisters303,
This seems to be your first time to my site, I cordially welcome you to my humble site.

cikjahflowers said...

salam..haji,
great honeymooning couple
you enjoy most being tourist
than working for the tarvel industry

lijah

Pak Zawi said...

Hajjah,
Spot on. Working for the travel industry especially when leading a tour made me suffer more though I love doing it. Having others worry about the nitty gritty is a big load off my mind and I get to enjoy the trip more.

GvG said...

Only one comment this time.

The insulation is indeed to keep warmth in in the winter, but also heat out during the summer.
It's a way to use less energy for heating or cooling (airconditioners) your house.
It is also cost effective. Your energy bill will be lower and in about a decade you will have 'earned back' your investment.

With new houses there are laws as to the insulation requirements. And those are solely for environmental reasons, i.e. so they use less energy and thus pollute less.

Awang Goneng said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Awang Goneng said...

Pak Zawi,

Woo-hoo, your journey's coming to an end! I have enjoyed your travel entries, they're so charming, cheeky, personal. And your tour guide in Amsterdam is more handsome than the one you had elsewhere!

Your pics have rekindled my interest in bicycles, but not as a rider. We recently had a cyclist in Londra in the person of Mat Salo, a very amiable guy, not like some of the hot-tempered cyclists I normally see crashing the lights.

I love Holland because it is a very understated country. It boasts no high rise towers, gleaming this or that, but they're simply going about their business in their own way. The Hague is a supreme example. Who would've thought from looking at it now that Holland was one of the richest, if not the richest country in Europe in the 16th century?

The Hague also has two interesting places in the Netherlands that are often overlooked: the Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, and the Panorama Mesdag. Most people go to those two other great places, the Rijksmuseum, or the Van Gogh in Amsterdam, but the Mauritshuis Gallery is also one of the most remarkable collections in the world; but understated, as usual. Maybe I'm biased because I like Vermeer but his View of Delft is so moody and superb, and the Girl With A Pearl Earring (she of the Book and Film) is also there. And I can watch Vermeer's Milkmaid pouring out the milk from a jug all day (rekindled my interest in milkmaids, Pak Zawi).

The Mesdag panoramas are something else. There are not many such works left in the world, and the illusion of being there, IN the artist's work is fantastic. We should copy that and make one of Pantai Cinta Berahi (or whatever it is called nowadays).

As you say, you have to stay in a place awhile to appreciate it. I was lucky to be doing some work in the Hague and had my weekends free to roam around. I spent many long hours on Sundays drinking tea and looking out to the Mailveld from the Hague station; but once we caught the Pasar Malam Besar in full sway. This was (is) the annual summer festival run by Dutch Eurasians to remind them of home (Indonesia). It is still the biggest Eurasian festival in the world, and one of the biggest annual festivals in the Netherlands even though the number of original Tong Tong people is dwindling. See Tong Tong Foundation here: http://www.tongtongfestival.nl/history.html. One year we caught Anneke Gronloh there, and my other half went completely bonkers!

Minta maaf Pak Zawi, panjè ddö'öh!

Pak Zawi said...

GvG,
Your comments are very informative and we welcome them. The more the better.
By the way where are you located right now? It really amazes me to find you reading my posts with regularity and I feel really proud to see your comments adding more depth to what I wrote.
They have good laws in The Netherlands and above all the laws are enforced.

Pak Zawi said...

Awang Goneng,
There is still Brussels and London to cover. We don't know yet who our guides will be in London but there is no guide for Brussels. Who knows the guide in london may be far better with his/her information and much better looking then the one in Amsterdam?
Eh Mat Salo toured Europe on bicycles? he will be spending so much time on the bicyles so much that he will forget his drilling rigs on the swamps of Kalimantan. Would definitely love to read his take on Europe.
Ain't it time for you to shift your focus elsewhere other than Trengganu? If you write about your travels and get them published like you did for GUIT it will sell as well as the Lonely Planet as we will be seeing it from the eyes of Asians.
never managed to see any of the museums. Missed the xxx museums most as it would be most educational for xxx starved Malaysians who would orgasms at the sight of pictures in Playboy and Penthouse openly displayed on bookshelves in Europe.
Don't worry about your long comment as they will be additonal information that others may enjoy reading especially from people like you who have visited Amsterdam for the umpteenth times. You may have lost count yourself. So never be apologetic the next time you come visiting especially about the future post on London which I may not be able to recollect fully as I was too busy taking photographs than to listen to the guide's eloquent description of the various sights that seemed to excite us to no end.
Who knows I might mistake the Parliament house as the Buckingham Palace?

GvG said...

Pak Zawi,

I live in the Netherlands and happened to stumble upon your blog during a search on Google.

Pak Zawi said...

GvG,
Thanks. Lucky me to have you stumbled upon my blog.

Fadhil said...

Salam Pak Zawi,

Thanks for the wonderful posts and lovely pictures of your Europe trip. Part of it reminded me of my own Europe trip during student days.

I really loved traveling around Europe. It is such a small continent but has so many countries and different cultures.

Sempat amik gambo majalah tu pun takpe Pok Wi. Kalau beli bawa balik tu... nanti kengkawan berebut nak pinjam :-)

Pak Zawi said...

Oldstock,
You are lucky to have experienced Europe during your student days. Revisiting Europe will definitely bring you many nostalgic feelings about the old Europe of your student days. I wasn't so lucky as this was my first trip to Europe and done at the tail end of my life.
The cool weather of between 13 to 18 degrees Celsius was definitely nice. We definitely don't have enough of Europe yet. Now we are planning to do Eastern Europe next year. May/June school holidays again.
The best part of Western Europe now called European Union is the seemingly border less world of one Europe. The hassle of immigration and custom was eliminated. Sometimes we didn't realize that we were crossing borders into another country. We could do with something like that too among the Asean nations.

Berisman said...

Pak Zawi
I hereby confirmed that you have been to Netherland,not because of the Windmill as mentioned by you, but the bicycles.

Don't be suprised later that you will see Awang Goneng and me cycling around Amsterdam and 'lepak' at Dam Square;-)

-Pak Adib,The Trek Rider

Berisman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
xplorer said...

i did blog about amsterdam in general as most of the small2 detail about my trip is gone as i had just started blogging only recently and i wrote on what i could recall.I believe that you had missed KEUKENHOFF garden while in amsterdam (checkout my blog for pictures),its a must visit destination in netherlands especially in spring time.Too bad your last picture is not very sharp and clearly focus( is it?),either that or my eyesight had failed me, ha ha

Zendra-Maria said...

Salam Pak Zawi, returning your visit to my humble blog.

You've done a superb job indeed describing your travels, putting to shame my own half-hearted efforts, aargh!

Yes it is amazing how easy it is to travel from country to country within the EU. I guess it's because they've realised that the mutual benefits far outweigh the potential damage, real or imagined. Whereas for Aseans, there have always been that underlying suspicion about one-another.

svllee said...

Dear Pak Zawi, this is such a detailed report. you must either have a photographic memory or have been frantically taking notes on your tour! Your guide Wim looks like such an interesting person. You should have asked him, 'if people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?' haha..

Pak Zawi said...

Pak Adib,
Thanks for the confirmation that I have been to Holland. Now I can the world that I have seen the Holes in the Red Light of Amsterdam.
Don't bother to bring bicycles to Europe, there are plenty around there. Just bring your tools to repair bicycles and in no time you can own bicycles for free. Workmanship is definitely expensive in Europe. Being the engineer you should teach Awang Goneng to do bike repairs and be your assistant.

Pak Zawi said...

xplorer,
Yes we missed Kuekenhof as it was closed at the end of May. the season started at end of Mac. I may have to go back to Holland just to see Kuekenhof. Kakteh was there during the season.
The focus of the last picture looks OK to me. maybe you have strained your eyes by staring too long at it. Don't worry i can send you the soft copies downloaded from the internet. They are definitely very sharply focussed and if you see them blurred, its time to visit the optometrist.

Pak Zawi said...

Zendra,
Thanks for the return visit.
Everyone's blog has their own strength. There is no way we can compare them and say someone else is better.
how true of you to say that among Aseans we still don't trust each other. We are not using the strength of numbers when we act as one. We have yet to find a leader from Asean who can be accepted and respected by all. Most have too many baggage to even be called a leader.

Pak Zawi said...

svllee,
sad to say i didn't take down any notes though i brought several notebooks around. Just had my hands full with a still and video camera slung to my neck. I just shoot alot of pictures and just follow the sequence. Whenever i need more information I search from the internet. I am lucky to receive notes from GvG from The netherland and Mekyam from New York to correct me.
As to the reason why the Dutch are not called Holes is because they prefer their country to be called The Netherland more than Holland. By the way the Holes are plentiful in The Redlight districts and would make great subject for photographic studies. Why don't you give it a try? While you are doing it please take precautions OK?

svllee said...

You crack me up, Pak! So funny you ah..! It sure would make a good photographic study!

Pak Zawi said...

svllee,
I am sure glad you enjoyed the joke. Wim, the tour guide in Amsterdam was full of such jokes, unfortunately many such gems were lost on the members who didn't catch them due to the poor understanding of the English language though Wim spoke very clearly. Anyway the above joke is definitely an original from me for you the professional photographer.

Anonymous said...

You crack me up, Holes in Holland, whatever next? This page is a bad influence on the young untravelled. Pak Zawi, you are under arrest.

Maria said...

Hi! Just found your blog while looking for bits of interestingness on KB. (I live right across the border in Narathiwat and I'm nipping over for lunch tomorrow!)

The thing that made me post was the feeling of shock at the lass in the shoe. She looks so much like me that it made my head spin. I don't think I've ever been to the Netherlands (though that cheese makes me wonder why) but it's still disorienting. Especially when you're somebody as strange-looking as I am.

Anyway. Keep up the good work! I'm definitely going to be reading your blog on a regular basis now! :D

-Maria

Anonymous said...

See? You're in trouble already for having taken someone to Holland without her even knowing it!

Unknown said...

You not only take pictures of the scenery. You also take lots of good pictures of foreign chicks. That's what I like most of your posting. I do agree you make a biggest mistake for not buying the mag.Or else I would be expecting to get the best decent gifts from another old man. Haha..

Pak Zawi said...

Anonymous,
True to your wish I was later arrested in Brussels Belgium. Read about it in the next episode.
This page is a bad influence? You come here at your own peril. All I am doing is trying to let you enjoy the joy of traveling seeing the world from the eyes of a 59 yrs old at the twilight of his life. Anything goes here. So come with a nick or name and we can have some friendly quarrels.

Pak Zawi said...

Maria,
Will you be in KB today? Give me a tinkle at 019 9125647 and I can take a shot of you to compare. You definitely look alike there. It will be a nice addition to the picture of the lady in the big shoe. Lunch hour may not be possible as it is Friday and I will not be free until after 2 PM.
Keep coming back and I will be very happy to have you here.
How is the security situation in Narathiwat? Feeling so scared to visit my neighbors nowadays.

Pak Zawi said...

Anonymous,
It was either her sister or her double. Could she be incarnated in Holland at the time of my visit? It is God's will to allow her to visit my site and later be a friend of Pak Zawi. Don't you be jealous OK?

Pak Zawi said...

Lim,
Who would want to see pics of ugly chicks? I know your taste that is why I took and post them.
Real mistake for not buying the Mag. Otherwise I could make lots of profit by selling them to you hehehehe.

Wan Nordin Wan Hussin said...

We have some wooden tulips at home. Alas, they are not from Holland. Siam mari! Bought them 20years ago, but still as bright as new. Look forward to your next installment .. Bruge (?) and of course London.

@rep said...

been there.. how about red light district?? hehehehe

Pak Zawi said...

GUiKP,
Siam mari tak main la. Tak sama walaupun nampak sama. Next instalment will be coming soon.

Pak Zawi said...

arep,
Won't dare to ask my wife to go to Red Light area though I wanted to. Just read in the link I provided.

Maria said...

Heh heh, sorry. I don't read my email until the evening! (Plus, my phone is in the shop right now.) I just got back. Didn't do anything so special; just went to KB mall, actually. Lepak-ing there makes me feel like I'm back in Bangkok, frittering away time and money. It's nice. I will give you a heads-up next time I'm crossing the river!

The security here is.. well, I have to be very careful about where I go. I live and work in the urban core of the city, so it's pretty safe here. I'm not allowed to go outside of the city unless I'm in a car or van with local people, though. My coworkers are planning on taking me to some of the interesting spots in the region, though. I'm thinking of starting a new blog just on (non-political) things around here. Think it's worth a try?

Unknown said...

I have some pretty chick photos too during my China Tour. I took it all the way because of you. I will post them later. Just trying to save the best for the last. hehe..

Before I could even finish posting about my Tianjin / Beijing tour, I will be back packing my bags of clothes heading for China again ! This time it's Guanzhou / Fujian !!!

Pak Zawi said...

Maria,
It's OK as I had to attend a silat match being arranged for the coming silat and muaythai event in Pasir Mas begining on 29th June for 4 nights in a row. So even if you had you phone, I wouldn't be able to make it.
It is scary to know that the once peaceful South of Thailand Province is no more safe to travel. I love the chalets along the beaches as they are cheap and clean and located on the most scenic beaches in the world. The water may not be so clean to bathe though.
I remember the lake area where you can have great lunch under small sheds. They were such a wonderful place to enjoy your meals.
If you need to do another blog, just write about the beauty of Southern Thailand and their beautiful people. Later when peace reign again, it will open up the eyes of travelers to come to Narathiwat to enjoy its beauty and hospitality again. Life must be tough for the people of the south now.

Pak Zawi said...

Lim,
Can't bear to wait in order to see you pics of beautiful chicks.
Hey you are going off to China again? Apa ni dah ada isteri kedua ke kat sana atau dah jatuh hati ngan awek di China?

mekyam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mekyam said...

dear pokwi,

another wonderful segment with lots of great pix! :D

you know it's not surprising your guide, wim, was such a polyglot. i think the dutch are known to be the most multilingual in europe. even more so than the swiss. my good friend and once-colleague, joruun [dutch married to an american], also claims they speak the best and most unaccented english among the europeans. i believe her, but perhaps GvG can attest to this.

[btw, i kinda thought GvG might be dutch. not only from his/her knowledgeable comments, but i deduced the "v" to stand for "van". :D]

pokwi, living with a cheese-lover, i would disagree with your generalisation that cheese-lovers are overweight. when you eventually get a chance to check out the meat&potatoes lot over here, who are not into cheese the way europeans are but really make "overweight" an understatement, you'll know that cheese is quite blameless. ;D

p.s. now i go back to mourning the passing of MJ & FF and a chapter my life. {sob}

Pak Zawi said...

Mekyam,
Been waiting for your comment before posting the next segment. Now that you have come, par 7 should be here soon. You are an inspiration to me.
GvG has confirmed that he/she lives in The Netherlands but no nationality was mentioned.
The generalization was merely a joke. Just like Japan I have observed that the people around Holland are lean and healthy. I guess living in a clod country requires that they have more energy giving food. It was sheer coincidence that the lady demonstrating the cheese stripping had a slightly oversize tummy.
It was unfortunate that MJ n FF had to go at the same time. Both played a major part in giving people of our age some form of entertainment though I don't approve the MJ transformation to the freakish white look.
When one's time has come, one has to go. To me anything above 60 is a bonus. Another year to go to collect my bonus years.

Awang Goneng said...

Pak Zawi,
Just to add to what Mekyam (may her tribe increase) has said. The Dutch prefer to speak to foreigners in English because they think no one not born in Holland can grapple with the language for its guttural sounds and complicated pronunciation. Well, this was before they met the Javanese.

In fact, during WWII they tested anyone (German spies mostly) who claimed to be Dutch by asking them to pronounce the name of the coastal resort Scheveningen (which is almost unpronouncable to foreigners. Even Germans fail to grasp the Dutch guttural!). Scheveningen also has two other claims to fame: 1. Charles II sailed from there to return to England to reclaim the English throne in the 17th c., and 2. Milosevic was detained in a prison there when he was brought to be tried at the Hague War Crimes Tribunal.

Just to make Mekyam jealous, I once stayed at their beautiful Kurhaus hotel and spent my afternoon in the shopping mall in the back of the hotel, eating my favourite brootje palling (eel sandwich) at a stall run by two Pakistani brothers. (They probably passed the Scheveningen test.)
The Dutch have also introduced a rigorous test of language and culture for people intending to settle down in Holland. Among other things would be immigrants are made to watch a video that shows snippets of Dutch society such as a gay couple kissing and a naked woman walking out from the water and walking starkers on the beach. Just to see their reaction. You will fail this test Pak Zawi.

PS My word veri is 'peran'

Pak Zawi said...

Awang Goneng,
After 59 years of living Pak Zawi has seen them all and done them all. Nothing can shock Pak Zawi anymore other than being asked to to hold a live eel but eating an eel sandwich can be a nonevent. The only test that Pak Zawi may fail is pronouncing the word Schevenigen as my Kelantanese slang doesnt require such gutteral ability. Maybe a 24 hrs non stop practice while scraping the toungue with the purest of gold may help to pass the test. The other test? Pak Zawi will certainly ask for the real thing and not just a video tape and rest assured pak Zawi will pass with flying colors especially the second section of the test, the starkers rising from the sea. Hehehehehe.

Anonymous said...

pak zawi,

ambo ambek doh the kaeng semutar malae jumaat hari tu, many thanks. frankly, i've never put a semutar on in my life; gotta try now :)

it's actually quite safe to wonder around Rossebuurt (red light) alone; just walk near a group (i use this tactic often, even in patpong). alternatively, there are guided tours.

do come again and i'll bring u to see flourescent-lit ladies in glass boxes, and more importantly, those beautiful 14th century architecture ;)

- atok/azam -

Pak Zawi said...

atok,
Just try it out. It is not as difficult as wearing a 'serban'. just tie it any which way you want. When the cloth is washed several times, it will be more pliant and easy to use.
I know it was safe to walk around The Redlight area in Amsterdam or Soho in London but those in Paris seems a bit risky. My wife wasn't willing to take the risk since she was carrying a handbag around.
The pretext of seeing architectural wonders often works especially when you are an architect hehehehehe.

Anonymous said...

I think that was what AG meant Pak Zawi. You and your friend KB Guy will make sure you fail the test so that you can both sit it again. And this time you will both demand that the video be played back in slow motion.

mekyam said...

pokwi,

i never fail to be delighted and awed by the depth and breadth of AG's knowledge and experience.

there's not a pinch of jealousy in me, i swear [ok, maybe a tsp], when i say that the brootje palling, the scheveningen and gays and starkers tests are now archived in the "wow! recesses" of my mind.

neatly filed and labelled now is the mental image of him sitting in his hotel room eating eel sandwich while watching the dutch cultural and language test video, muttering between bites "scheveningen.. scheveningen!" :D

AG, while pokwi says he won't be fazed by the starkers test, i'd place a good bit of my dwindling usd in the pool for gay couple walking starkers out of the water, sucking face! ;D

p.s. AG, my tribe, whose increment has been in abeyance and that suspended lot right now are swimming in the nether of my other half and probably wincing as he and his daft buddies brazilian-jujitsu'ed each other in a harlem school gym, thanks you for your good wishes!

word veri: uncequ!

mekyam said...

p.p.s. AG, our harlem, that is. the spanish one!

Pat said...

Like E's mum, my mum loves tulips. And she tells me she had glass ones when I was little, but they are no more. So, I too, would've bought some of those wooden ones!

Lovely pix, but the thing I'll remember most? Your not buying the naughty books only because you were afraid of getting them confiscated at KLIA!!! Very naughty, ah, you? Hahahahah!!!!

Pak Zawi said...

Anonymous,
Hahahahaha. I should have thought of that.

Pak Zawi said...

Mekyam,
Pak Zawi looked in amazement at the intellectual intercourse between you and AG. The level is so high that Pak Zawi dare not intrude.
It is with sadness that Pak Zawi observes that Mekyam is unable to expand her tribe which others took it for granted. There are even others who trash their tribe because their sole intention was only for pleasure and nothing else. Maybe it is time for people like AG to be productive again so that others can enjoy the fruit of his labor (or his spouse's labor to be more exact).

Pak Zawi said...

Patricia,
All is not lost yet. I read somewhere that Ee Lynn will be going for a sojourn in Holland and perhaps we can get her to post some wooden tulips for us if that isn't going to be much trouble for her.
As to the magazines I have had my fill of looking at thier pages and what I saw isn't much different from what is available on the net. So the loss is not total in reality. An old man like me can live without them though KBguy being much younger and more active may need them as a form of stimulus.

Awang Goneng said...

Pak Zawi,
I'm just curious: what is this Brazilian jujitsu as practised by Mekyam's other half in Spanish Harlem? Is it something like Pak Zawi's Silat Tomoi? Perhaps the twain should meet?
Oh, Pak Zawi, our house is crowded. We have a gaggle of kids and a herd of cats. Our tribe is big enough already.
Har-har, what a thought - sitiing in front of a Dutch telly in the Kurhaus hotel watching their Introduction to Holland video and eating smoked eel sandwich. Mekyam has a wild imagination!
Last time I checked, the Pakistani brothers are no longer there. Perhaps they've made enough money and are now back in Islamabad, stopping strangers in the street to ask for a light to smoke their eel. "It's a habit I picked up in Holland," they'd say, to assuage common consternation. There in KB Pak Zawi smokes only rokok daun.

mekyam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mekyam said...

ag & pokwi,

since the hub also tomoi (siap berface-mask segala dgn other sundry guards) abt once a week with his friend, peter, whose alter-ego is that of a biologist, [peeps, i suspect an uprising of the nerds in the near future... so if it happens, u heard it here first!] at a park near pete's place, ag's curiosity resonated with me.

so i've just, not half-an-hour ago, looked the man square in his teotonic eyes and said: "what IS this brazilian jujitsu? is it ANY different from tomoi? and if so, WHY hasn't the twain met?"

he went, "what twain?"

the mental-silat proponent that i am, i refused to be sidetracked by his feint. i countered with a 1-2 combo of "what is it?" and "is it any different from tomoi?".

"yes!" he said. "it's all about grappling... and ground fighting. tomoi is kickboxing, all elbows and knees."

before he could parry with "what's with the sudden interest?" or worse, pull a twain on me, i quickly exited that "mat" saying i think i heard someone pinging me for an internet bout of scrabble. ;D

Pak Zawi said...

AG n Mekyam,
Sad to say I am unable to join your league. The level the two of you are parring be it in jujitsu or tomoi are way beyond me.