NL - 28th, Jan, 2009 Wed (Sunny, -8 ~ 10) Eindhoven: Lunar New Year - The 3rd day

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, I cooked some meat dumplings to share with my house cleaners.

On every Wednesday, they will come to my house in two persons. Sometimes they changed partners, sometimes difference groups will come. Totally 6 persons, but today just 4 came to join the lunch, and the other two came but didn't eat because one of them was rashing to clean other houses as she will be on a holiday started the next day.

For my house, it was the 5th houses that they have cleaned today, and they were going to clean the other 5 houses after me. I said they are lucky as they have many works to do while many people in the world are lossing their jobs now due to the recession!

NL - 26th, Jan, 2009 Mon (Sunny, -1 ~ 15) Eindhoven: Lunar New Year - The 1st day

On the first day of Lunar New Year, I cooked some Long Life Noodle, chicken soup for dinner, like what my mother does every year in the first day of Lunar New Year. It is a blessing of long life for anyone who eat it. We shared some of them with our neighbour.

NL - 25th, Jan, 2009 Sun (Sunny, 0~20C) Eindhoven: Lunar New Year Eve Party

On Sunday morning, it was the Lunar New Year Eve, we started to cook the curry and sweet dessert in the morning, and fried the squids with herbs at YL's friend house at the Centum which hold the party.

It was a happy party with many Taiwanese cuisines, Japanese nimono, Asian curry, beers, red wine, etc. There were delicious dishes like the following:

* Many kinds of vegetables seeds like peanuts, watermelon seeds, pumpkin seeds, chestnuts, etc.

*Steam Chicken

*Steam Prawn

*Steam Snow Fish with beautiful cucumber cutting by one the Netherlands's colleagues.

*White kol which mean "Fatt Chai: Prosperous in Chinese"

*Dried Mugil cephalus fish eggs which delivered from Taiwan

*Chinese fried noodles

*Chinese fried rice noodles

*Simmer Beef ball

*Fried Mushroom with vegetables

* Fried squid with herbs and spicy mixed

*Japanese style stewed/simmered dishes (nimono)

* Asian beef curry

* Sweet desert with Taiwan's lotus seeds, dried longan meat, Jelly fungus which can enrich the blood circulation, increase the immune sistems, decrease the fatigue, etc..

*Others

The kids were the happiest, they gots "Ang Paw- Red Packet Money" as a blessing that they will grow up healthy, happy, etc in the coming New Year. Moreover, they received presents from their new friends -- Kim and her sister, a car, some animals puzzles and delicious sweets.

As the next day will be a working Monday, the gathering had to be ended before midnight. Everyone was looking forward to the next gathering which can taste more delicious foods again.

Wishing all the best in the coming Lunar New Yew of the Oxes. Kong He Fatt Chai!

NL - 24th, Jan, 2009 Sat (Sunny 0~5C) Eindhoven : A day before Lunar New Year Eve

Finally, Lunar New Year Eve is around the corner. Today, we out marketing in the open market at Woelsel and some supermarkets. Especially in the open market and Chinese supermarkets, a lot of Chinese were seen in preparing for the Chinese New Year Eve tomorrow. Despite the meats, fruits and vegetables, we bought two bushes of Red and Yellow (10pcs/ea) roses that are fresh and beautiful which cost totally $5 Euro only. After all the marketing, we went home late in the night.

NL - 22th, Jan, 2009 Thu (Sunny) Eindhoven: RIS Intake

The front door of RIS

Classrooms at right

Classrooms at left

A hut near the side door

Today, I receive a big present for the New Year, a letter confirming Syuan intake into RIS (Regional International School) after 3 months waiting. She will joins the new class 1MO that have a new teacher from the Great Britain- Ms M. O'Donnell on 2nd, Feb, 2009.

The school times are from 08.25 to 15.30 (Wednesday from 08.25 to 12.30). She needs to have a lunch and 2 healthy snacks and an extra drink (non-fizzy) every day. She needs to bring a gym kit (shorts, shirt & gym shoes with non-marking soles) on every Tuesday and Thursday.

Looking forward to her new adventure in the school.

NL - 19th, Jan, 2009 Mon (Sun 5C) Eindhoven : Vaccinations

A nurse from the Community Nursing Department made an appointment with me months ago, she would like to collect the informations regarding Syuan and Ray's vaccination result as they are around/below 4 years old.

She is gentle, friendly and in middle height. She rode a bicycle to our house. I treated her with a cup of warm hand-made soya beam milk. The communication process was very smooth as the kids had all the vaccinations on time, moreover, I printed and translated them before I passed them to her.

I was told that the 6 in 1 vaccines for the DTaP + HIB + OPV + B (totally 4 times ) are totally free in Netherlands. It has to be paid in Taiwan while it is still very expensive now.

NL - 15th, Jan, 2009 Thu (Sun 1 ~ 7C) Eindhoven : Garden's Light

The owner of the house Mr. Boomen, who is a software engineer, on leaves these two days and come to our house to repair the lamp in the car park, it has been malfunction since we moved in to the house.

Over 30 years, he and his wife bared up two children in the house that we stayed now. He moved out from the house 4 years ago after his wife passed away. A Taiwanese couple stayed in their house for two years before we came, he is also an engineer who worked in a very famous semiconductor company in Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Industrial Park, thus we could find some Chinese kitchenware in the kitchen.

There were 3 stand lamps on the ground of the backyard garden, but only one which near to the wall of the kitchen was working well. Mr. Boomen was fully equipped with all the instruments and parts he needed just like a professional house repair and wiring solution provider. The cable of the good stand lamp had been dug out by Mr. Boomen, he used a new cable and some switches to en long it to the car park light, as the car park light was comparatively important for our daily use. There is a light on the wall of the house which he thought it should be enough for the garden. He spent about 4 hours to do them on Thursday.

On Friday, he continued to change a new set of sensor light for the car park for an hour. Finally, we have light in the car park.

NL - 15th, Jan, Thu (Sunny) Eindhoven : Vegetables and Stewed Egg Lunch Box

NL - 14th, Jan, 2009 Wed (Sun -1 ~1C) Eindhoven : Colleagues Gathering II

Here come YL's colleagues gathering again, this time is to welcome his three colleagues from Taiwan who on board in Netherlands on 1st, Jan, 2009.

Current colleagues in NL cooked some dishes and we bought two roasted chicken, some potato chips and a bottle of 2003 Premier wine from Bordeaux .

They shared office's news both in Taiwan and Netherlands, ski experiences and discussed about the preparation for the dishes on the Lunar New Year Eve. They will invite their NL's colleagues and families to join the "Round Table Meal", over 30+ people were expected. Some food materials like the precious dried eggs of the fish, etc... were asked to send from Taiwan in order to prepare the meal. They will like YL to prepare the meat dumpling as it is a very symbolized food on the New Year as the "Steaming Yuan Baw (Name of the Money in the old China)".

So, we will prepare to do the dumpling starting this Sunday....

NL - 12th, Jan, 2009 Mon (Sunny) Eindhoven : Stewed Pork with Pumping Soup Lunch Boxes

NL - 7th, Jan, 2009 Wed (Sunny) Eindhoven : Hai Nan Chicken Rice Lunch Box

Today, I cook the Hai Nan Chicken rice that mom usually cooked. We eat them with the salt and sour cucumber that made previously.

NL- 6th, Jan, 2009 Tue (Snow with Sun -11C) Eindhoven : Oyster noodle

The weather seems get colder from Europe to Taiwan, it was -11C last midnight and it went down to -13C this morning. Normally, in Taiwan, the coldest was 9C but this week it will be nearly 6C.

Attached is the Oyster noodle " O-a-mi-shua in Taiwanese" that YL loves. We cooked them with the noodle I brought from Taiwan and some fresh oysters we bought from Beauno-France. 14pc costed for EU$4.6. The shell is big but the meat is very very....... small.

The Oyster Noodle " O-a-mi-shua in Taiwanese"

The Oyster we bought from Beauno

NL- 5th, Jan, 2009 Thu (Rain with Snow, -6C) Eindhoven: Snow II

Today is -6 degree Celsius in the morning.






It started to snow from the midnight of 4th, the thickness of the snow was about 4 to 5 inches, everywhere was covered with snow including the floor, the trees, the houses and the cars, etc.



The cars drive slowly on the road with the slippy ice melt by the engine. People with bicycle cycled very hard on the snow, it made them fall down easily. The two kids went outside the garden to play the snow balls and felt the cold with nearly frozen hands.

According to YL colleagues, it is the coldest year (-10 degree) they have ever met during these 10 years. It is very cold and full with snow, it seldom snow and so cold in Netherlands.

When we came back from Paris which is -2 degree on the 1st, Jan afternoon after 12 days travelling, our house heater need a whole day to raise the room temperature from 8 degree to 18 degree. Though 8 degree was warm compare to the outside temperature of -5, we still needed to wear our coats in the room as it was the coldest temperature in Taiwan that we had ever met .

Luckily, we can keep the room temperature warm to 22 degree again.

NL- 4th, Jan, 2009 Sun (Sunny -3C) Eindhoven : Ooievaarsnest New Year Gathering (Nieuwjaarsreceptie 2009)

We were invited to join the Ooievaarsnest New Year Gathering (Nieuwjaarsreceptie 2009) at the outdoor football field nearby which stand the Ooievaarsnest (Storks Nest).

The chef treated us with blewed red wine and hot chocolate milk, some potatoes chips and biscuits were served.

Though the temperature was about -3 degree with mild cold wind, over 30 ~40 couples or singles neighbours gradually gathered at the stall from 2 to 4pm. They shaked hands and greeted each other with saying Beste Wensen "Best wishes" in Dutch.

We introduced ourselves and told them that YL worked in AXXX which is only5 minutes away. They were familiar with AXXX and Philips, as Philips had over 17 thousands worker worked and lived nearby our neighbourhood before. But most of them moved to Amsterdam two years ago. In the past, Eindhoven was a farm("Hoven" means farm in Dutch) and it growth swiftly because Philips and AXXX built their offices and factories here, of course the vendors also built they factories nearby. That made the area booming quickly.

At least two Philips employees joined our gathering yesterday. They were a lot of retired couples. Some of them travel frequently to Taiwan and China as they worked closely with them in the electronic products, for examples one of the Taiwan Notebook company OEM TomTom navigation system both in Taiwan and China.

They are friendly and happy to see us. They greet us everytime when they saw us.

NL - 1st, Jan, 2009 Thu (Sunny, -5~0C) France : Eiffel Tower of Paris

Eiffel Tower in Paris-- Blue with 12 Euro Stars before 2008/12/31 11:59

Eiffel Tower in Paris--Shined with twinkling stars at 2009/1/1 00:00

Eiffel Tower in Paris--Metalic gold at 2009/1/1 00:05

Happy New Year 2009!

To welcome the new year 2009 we went to Eiffel Tower of Paris . Many people from all over the world gathered at the surounding areas or travelled on the river via boats to see the wonder moment of the Eiffel tower after new year count down. We chose a place up a hill so that we can take photos of the whole Eiffel tower. Among all the people, we met a Japaneses tourist group, and a family from Equator who share their Champagne with us.

A friend from Equator who share they champagne with us

We expected to see fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, but actually it was lighting changes on the tower. At the beginning, the tower was in the blue diamond lighting with 12 Euro Stars shown at the bottom of the tower, when count down to 12 midnight, the whole tower suddenly shined with twinkling stars just like a striking stars tree. After the twinkled stars it changed into metalic gold tower.


Wishing a golden economic and peace year will come in 2009.