Diary 2015:

Finally a break! A short vacation between Putten and Garderen in Mooi-Veluwe. Breakfast and Diner is pretty much arranged. For lunch we walk to the neighbouring villages with a detour throught the forrest. One day we walked to Putten and were surprised that the word "KNUSSEL" is now also known by the HEMA. Overall this was a great vacation. It was not cold, and did not rain while we were hiking. The xmas dinners were perfect. Very quite environment. No more pictures but simply a big me-like.

After almost 3 months, it is time for Andrew to go back to HongKong. We wish him a good flight and hope to work together once again. A last photo of the design team is taken.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box to find a perfect birthday present. And this is such a present. A last minute action (Monday afternoon) and 2 tickets almost front row, perfectly in the middle. Combined with a hotel stay in Utrecht, the show can begin. And this is (was) a super show with lots of dancing and great singing. A show that gave us the full 2 hours of entertainment. Below also a youtube movie on the Romy Monteiro.

The same colleague from HongKong is still in the Netherlands. Unfortunately no snow, but christmas time is coming up. So what was not in his tourguide book of the Netherlands was paying a visit to the XMAS-market-caves in Valkenburg. We picked Andrew up from the trainstation Nijmegen and drove in 2 hours to Valkenburg. As it turned out: In time before the crowds came. We started out with the "Fluweel grot". It took us about one and a half hour going from nicely decorated displays in corners to nicely decorated shops. It has been raining a lot lately and being in a cave comes with a plus: Stable temperature and no rain. After the christmas market we had lunch and went to the sand sculptures cave. Next to it is a cable lift that gave us a nice view from Valkenburg. We had a laugh about that this about the highest point in the Netherlands and for Dutch people, this is already pretty high. The sand sculptures are absolutely worth a visit. The theme of this year was after the movie "Christmass Carol". Andrew had seen the movie and he recognized clearly the creatures. At then end of the afternoon we drove back to Wijchen where we had dinner at our place. For HK-people this is extreemly large. A typical affordable HK-appartment is our kitchen size. Apparently the Netherlands is not that crowded.

It is Sunday morning and that is the time for a lot of Wijchenaren, to go running around the Wijchens Meer. I am already back before the real busy hours start. Enjoying my breakfast on the couch, we spot 2 wild bunnies in our garden. They seem happy with this environment with green and explore the garden until a big brownish cat arives. Even our rabbits in a protected area don't like this cat. Here a couple of pictures of the exploration.

Last week we learned about a run in the Hoge Veluwe. As I am well prepared for 25km or more, we look on the web what distances there are. The full marathon is off-road (trail), which will be too heavy. Maybe something for next year. The 1/2 marathon is mostly on paved roads. As the weather prediction looks good, I signed up just 1 week before the race. Main target is to enjoy and run a constant speed. And I succeeded. The average pace was 4m27 with only a few seconds per km spread.

In the news since a few weeks the emission violations of VW. And then you encounter this license plate. In Dutch this is a bad word. I don't want to critize VW, as I think many other car brands will follow. It us just a funny encounter of this license plate, the meaning of the word KUT and the brand VW.

A colleague from HongKong is visiting us for 3 months. Marjorie and I take him to National Park "Hoge Veluwe" enjoying a late summer. We pick Andrew up from train station Ede-Wageningen and drive to entrace Otterlo. From there a short "white bike" tour brings us to the Koperen Kop where we have an early lunch. We continue biking to "Jachtslot St. Hubertus" for a guided tour. There are many very big fish in the pond. After the tour we walk back to "de Koperen Kop" as we parked our bikes in the usual place instead of seperate, indicating some kind of reservation, so these are gone. No problem. On our walking tour back we encounter a herd of deer including a male. Lucky for them the heart us first and disappear fast in the forrest. At the end of the day we travel to Schaarsbergen and eat pancakes. A special dinner that is quite popular in this region of the Netherlands.

After 1 year I thought Skydee would not remember me babysitting her.......but love is still in the air.

Alex, Jessica and Ailyn visit us today. Several reasons: Just because we are family, but also for Marjorie to take good care of Ailyn (spoil her a little bit), trying out the stroller, and to upgrade Alex his old computer with new hardware. It is great weather so we sit outside for most of the day. Below a couple of pictures showing a relaxed day.

This summer we have 2 guest rabbits, also called "logeer konijntjes". Marjorie her Chinese teacher will be on vacation for several weeks and the rabbits will stay at our place for the royal treatment.

Wednesday is the day the Nijmeegse Vierdaagse passes Wijchen. Shops will be closed, and every citizen will be watching at the streets. One of my colleagues is walking the 40km 4 days in a row. Well prepared and fit.

A few days ago we found our insects box demolished on the ground and we had no idea who did it.....until this morning. Early morning there is a strange noise coming from the garden. Easily I trace it back to a woodpecker. And now it is clear what happed earlier. The woodpecker has a super breakfast eating all the insects in the insects box. Watch the video to see the action.

I got a call about 3 weeks ago from a guy called Johan. I recognized the voice but had no clue where I could know this guy from until he revealed we were in the same class at HAVO and then I remembered. A HAVO reunion is coming up and he invited me and provided me a short list of people that said to come. The program was great. Meet in Giethoorn at Pieter's place, have something to drink and then go on a boat for a few hours touring Giethoorn and having plenty of opportunity to meet again. Back at shore we had a barbeque until late night. Next pictures are an impression of the day. Look carefully and find Aleid, Bert, Edith, Edwin, Edwin, Erna, Gert-Jan, Heleen, Henk, Herma, Jacoby, Janice, Johan, Johan, Margriet, Marianne, Mariet, Mireille, Petra, Petra, Pieter, Roinka, Ronald, Sandra and Sybina. It was an unforgetable day meeting after 30 years so many old friends.

One of my colleagues became father last year. As that happened in India, we had to wait a bit for the Dutch tradition of "Kraamvisite" which means something like visiting the new born baby in the first weeks. We selected a Friday afternoon and took the train from Utrecht to Eindhoven and walked the last 15 minutes to Gaurav's place. It was one of the first really warm days and a thunderstorm was predicted. We got treated very well. No "beschuit met muisjes" but some nice Indian food. Enough to enjoy and fill all our stomachs. We brought some gifts and asked to unwrap at least one present like Dutch people do. One of the presents is a remote control with an imaginary GreenPeak chip inside. Than Vivaan woke up and after having some food and a clean diaper, he started circulating in the group. We left after 6 after the heaviest rain and thunderstorm had disappeared. Some of us stayed in Eindhoven to do some shopping. Others took the train home.

Special on Vacation to Taiwan

More pictures taken from pictures on what goes on in FaGuShan. Most of it is voluntary work. The last picture is Marjorie with WenLing. This woman can speak a little English and helped Marjorie a lot.

A quick update. Marjorie is now fluent speaking and listening Mandarin. She could even understand what was said by microphone at lunch, which is one of the toughest listening practices. The next pictures an impression of Marjorie her daily tasks. Making sure the bed sheets are drying properly. Wiping the floor of the meditation room. And walking through the garden finding a nice fountain wall.

Not really surprising it that the swan couple came back this year. No problem with that, but they want to build a nest at the same spot as last year. Unfortunately a gooze was breeding already there. Last week the Swan started building a nest at just 1 meter distance. The gooze did not like it. A couple of days later the gooze moved 5 meter away. Apparently still not happy. As this weekend the gooze has left the small island. Similar to what happend last year. The eggs were left as well. So fare the bad news. Now some good news. At the same island a coot (Meerkoet) was breeding. I recognized something odd. It looked like red legs. I took my camera and it became clear. The chicks of a coot have bright red heads. And as they move under the mother, it looks like legs are moving. When the father came, the parents made some sounds, and the chicks hurried to the waterside to get food from the father. Directly afterwards returning to the warmth and safety of the mother.

Here another impression of what Marjorie is doing....voluntary work (vrijwilligerswerg). She did not take infinite amount of clothes. So some washing every day is mandatory. There is a special room to dry clothes. From that place, you have a nice view as well. Marjorie helps with cleaning rooms, organizing tables/chairs, and also by moving soil to a greenhouse. One of her best friends there is WenLing. Wenling is a Bodhisattva. Look on the web to figure out what that means!

Marjorie sent me some pictures where she is sleeping, and how the rooms look like. Well this is what you could have expected if you know that FaGuShan is a Buddhist monastery.

The first sun appeared and the next day there are 2 new gooze families. Marjorie told me that in Taiwan they don't recognize the difference between a gooze and a duck. So here a collection of gooze and duck families. What the striking differences. The gooze familie is a 2 parents familie, alert, and together. The duck familie is a single parent (mother only) type of family. And organizisation is pretty tough with 1 day chicks all over the place.

A few more pictures of Marjorie and FaGuShan. For every volunteer there is a green jacket so that you can recognize who is volunteer, and who is not. Marjorie is the only white and the only blond volunteer. So her name is most likely 'white blond' or 'blanke blonde' in Dutch. But some do remember the name, and some have actually the patience to communicate slow enough to follow.

Having adjusted just a bit, it is time to leave Taipei and travel to FaGuShan. Another name for the same place is Dharma Drum. You can find more information here: Dharma Drum . First a walk of about 1 hour to the busstation. Then searched where the bus to FaGuShan is supposed to leave. A bustrip of 2 hours brought Marjorie to the monestry. There was some confusion, as normally in the weekends (Sunday) new volunteers from Taipei arrive. The desk expected Marjorie being part of that group. After that was resolved Marjorie could directly start with washing vegetables. After a night sleep with 84 other volunteers, a new day with voluntary work starts: Bringing sandwiches to employees, preparing food for e.g. drivers, cleaning skirts, packing sleepingbags, etc. The pictures below are mainly on the way to FaGuShan.

Today Marjorie leaves to Taiwan to learn more Chinese and to do voluntary work at a Budhist Monestry. Here some pictures giving a first impression, while recovering from the long journey. "Having had only 3 hours of sleep in the airplane, finding the hotel was tough. Asking a chauffeur helped. Luckily some Chinese was still present" Next morning figuring a place for breakfast. Some rice soup did it. Next going to the tourist office for a decent map of Taipei. Then visit some local stores and the highest building of the world for 2004-2010 with 508 meters.

Today we ran the half marathon of Sint Anthonius, or like the people of the village pronounce it: St-Tunnis. We prepared well the past months and thus we were quite sure that we would finish. The weather could have been better. A heavy rain shower poured down 5 minutes before the start. As sudden as it started it stopped. That was exactly at 3PM, the time of the start. It is a very nice route, one lap only, and only through nature. With only about 500 runners attending, the race is very nice and not over crowded. The good thing is that is is not a race, but a run. That means that if you are not fast, you can still attend. And thus we did.

Yesterday Jessica and Alex become mother and father of their daughter Ailyn. The news came through this morning and there was an open invitation to visit. It took just a few whats-apps to decide to change our running cloths into more regular cloths and drive to Zwolle. What we found were happy parents and a healthy baby. Next pictures are the proof.

Visiting the newborn baby (kraamvisite) in The Netherlands is an odd thing, hardly to call culture if you compare it with Chinese tradition. My colleague Xia became mother in November last year, but tradition does not allow visiters until the first full moon. There is a lot of valuable background in that. I will not explain. Today however the colleagues and I do visit Xia and instead of the traditional "beschuit met muisjes" we are offered a Xi-an lunch. And finally Yanchu is brought into the room. The happy mother shows her daughter. (Not shown on the pictures are Luyi, Ozgur, Theo and myself)

The 6th year with x-ST-Ericsson colleagues. This year we go to Sölden. The house we rented fits 18 persons and is rented from Sunday to Sunday instead Saterday to Saterday. The plan for a part of us (including me) is to start driving on Saterday and get close to the Austria border. The next day go skiing in one of the first places, and in the evening continue to Sölden. However heavy snow was predicted for Saterday. So last minute, we changed plan and left on Friday afternoon. Gerrit, Paul, Onno, Michiel, Jan-Willem and me leave around 2 in the afternoon. Next morning we go skiing Silvretta Montafon: Silvretta-Montafon. We only see a small portion of the area, as there is lots of fresh powder, allowing to go many times off piste. If I remember correctly we had a second hotel in Voralberg-Brand. And we decided not to drive, but directly to go skiing in Brandnertal. Brandnertal We walked to the first lift and it was a good choice. Especially with the expected snowfall, we decided to stay low to have some sight. At the end of the day we drove to Sölden: and got the last beds remaining. The group of 17 was complete. The house was very nice. The only surprise was that it was not down-town as was clearly suggested when we looked for places. Only at the final payment, the address was given, and it turned to be 2km away. Clever! It appeared more things were wrong. Clearly the landlord is out for a good income at minimum cost. Sölden is great for skiing, but apres ski is different than in Saalbach-Hinterglem. It directly starts at 4 and stops abrupt at 11. This leaves no time for a first beer. A shower, A dinner and a second apres ski. Anyhow. It was a lot of fun, and this area had some new things to offer, like the decent of 18km length which became very flat halveway, forcing me as only snowboarder to keep full speed, as skating is not possible with a board. Here a lot of picture of the fun we had.

The running club of Beuningen organizes nice runs. In this case the purpose is to finish all at 11:45. That means that you have to calculate when you need to start, to make sure you finish around that time. I was again invited by Jeroen (old colleague) to join this run. We decided to do it slowly and have a chat.

The year 2015 starts good....especially for those that put a wish in the tree at Jan Linders....not a wish for yourself, but for someone else. And that someone does not need to be a human being. It can also be an animal or animals in need for something extra. Marjorie never attends these kind of things, but for some reason she was attracted and wrote down a wish for a friend of her, knowing that that friend has to live from almost nothing. And then her wish was selected, together with another 10 wishes. This is a very nice geasture of the site manager/director of this Jan Linders.

And we are lucky again. A snow front passes Wijchen and decorates our garden with a 5cm snow. Here just a few snapshots.