33 candles

Happy New Year

What a great end to 2007 we had! We heard a couple of weeks back that friends of ours were planning to invite a bunch of their friends over from the UK to spend New Year in Den Haag and that they were planning to have a big New Year dinner at their house. In unison Flo and I both exclaimed that they should hold the event at our house, since it's perfect for entertaining guests. After giving it a couple of days thought, they agreed and so last night we had about sixteen people 'round and fed them all with a mid winter barbecue (I've been looking for an excuse to buy a barbecue for months!).

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was plenty of food and drink so that by midnight, everyone was full and merry and anticipating bringing in the New Year with the communal fireworks in the little square down our street. Flo and I knew what to expect since we'd spent last New Year at home also, but for our guests this was the first experience of the Dutch New Year celebrations. I think they were all pleasantly surprised (and a little shocked), describing the event as a scene from Baghdad!



Today has been quite relaxed after the festivities of last night, although Flo and I were not nursing hangovers like the rest, who went on to a night club until about three o'clock. But in preparation for our own big event, Flo's keeping off the booze (only having had about half a glass of champagne all night) and I'm generally a lightweight these days and can't handle much more than a few glasses!

So after cleaning up the house a bit, we went out to get a breath of fresh air, taking a walk around the neighbourhood. We only walked for 40 minutes and 4 km, but this was enough to cause Flo to drop onto the sofa and sleep for an hour when we got home. She's been doing that a lot recently, sneaking in a late afternoon snooze. It's a good sign for the pregnancy, but over the past couple of days Flo's started to get anxious again about the pregnancy... so it's a good job that we're off to the hospital for another scan tomorrow to see how the little one is coming along!

If everything goes to plan, 2008 should prove to be a very eventful year! Happy New Year!

A mandarin collar in the China Club

Jonny bought me a gorgeous dress for my birthday a few months back. It is a cream and black silk dress with a self-tie sash on the back and a mandarin collar. I never owned an item of clothing so beautiful and I feel special when wearing it.

Such a special dress deserves to be worn on special occasions. And sometimes those occasions deserve to be created. So as per my request (a place worth my dress), Robert and Maria took us to the China Club on our last night in Hong Kong.

Hong kong has very few traces of the past. The old Bank of China building, which was built in 1950, is one of the few pre 1960 buildings left standing. The Art Deco building once was a skyscraper. Now, sandwiched between the mirrored Bank of China tower and the glass Hong Kong Bank building, it is a dwarf.

The China Club is on the top floor, or rather, the three top floors. The labyrinthine halls lead to high-ceilinged dining rooms and bars, reading rooms and secluded libraries. The Long March bar resembles the bar of an ocean liner. It looks like a gentleman's club of the 1930s. Apart from the art that adorns the walls: the China Club has one of the best collections of contemporary Chinese art anywhere in the world.

Sat in the bar, you can easily imagine that this is what the colonial past was like, elegant and magical, with a sense of fun. At the same time you know that this is a Hong Kong that probably never existed. And indeed, what feels like a remnant of a colonial past, is in fact brand new. The club was actually built over the past five years. But some sense of a past is worth recreating in a city that is always rushing forward.

Try baking!

We have friends and family living all around the world. In Hong Kong, the United States, Britain, South Africa, Brazil, Norway, Spain, Qatar and Canada to name just a few locations. The great thing is that it gives us a good excuse to visit them whenever we have the chance and get to know some exciting places. It also means we don't get to see our loved ones as much as we would like.

My cousin Miriam for example lives in Toronto, Canada. She is such a great person and I would love to see her more. Last year she came over here to attend the Yad Vashem ceremony for our grandmother. She stayed with us for a couple of days. And although we have not seen each other that much over the years, it felt very familiar. Literally! We talked for hours, both keen to catch up on both sides of the family gossip. And just catching up in general.

She told me she likes baking when she needs cheering up a bit. The whole process of measuring, mixing and baking helps take her mind of things. And if that alone is not enough to make one feel better already, there is the sweet result at the end. A garantueed recipe to cheer any person up. And friends and family will love it too. I wholeheartedly agreed with her!

Fortunately the baking occasion today was a happy one! I decided to bake Jonny something to take to work for his birthday tomorrow. Muffins as per his request (it was between muffins and cake). On the above picture you can see the result. They look a bit lobsided, but if past experiences are anything to go by, that won't make a difference to the taste!

I also got Jonny some 'Happy Birthday' napkins to go with it, so now I am just hoping it will entice his colleagues to sing for him. As it happens I am slightly tone deaf, so I'll give it a miss this year....

The colourfull paper cups are from the Danish brand Rice by the way.

Griddup!

I don't really do carnaval. I am not keen on the big crowds, I don't like the dancing and I'll prefer a glass of nice wine to copious amounts of beer anytime, thanks. As a result I miss out on the fancy costumes that go with it.

My sister recently moved to 'south of the rivers', or the catholic part of the Netherlands. It is also known as the more exuberant part of the Netherlands. They talk softer, the food is nicer and they like a good party. There is no real escaping from carnaval there. Especially when you are three years old and all your class mates celebrate it.

My niece Julia will attend the festivities in her new frog costume. She does not look too happy in the picture, but that might have to do with the timing of the Kodak moment: she was sat on the potty (original picture cropped!). However, she does look really cute as a frog! One would almost be tempted, but I think we will just stick to celebrating Pancake Day this year...